An opinion has been sent today (30th August 2024) to City of Edinburgh Council containing senior counsel, James Finlay KC, opinion that the Council’s approach to issuing 3 month suspension notices is unlawful.
In summary the opinion finds:
(i) the Council is taking a blanket and arbitrary approach without giving proper consideration to the particular circumstances of each application;
(ii) there is no rational basis upon which the Council could base its decision to suspend consideration of an application based solely from the information in the Licence Application (or elsewhere in the various assessments);
(iii) the Council has unlawfully imposed an onus on applicants to demonstrate they have planning permission or have a lawful use (which may include still
effectively operating on the basis short-term let control areas are
retrospective, contrary to Lord Braid’s opinion); and
(iv) the reasons given were defective.
We await a response from Edinburgh Council by 11 September 2024.