Self-catering is hugely important to Scottish tourism in terms of jobs, revenue, and world-class experiences offered to guests. To be such an essential part of Scotland’s tourism mix is even more remarkable for our sector, which generates £867m per year, when most self-caterers operate small or micro businesses. Our professional self-caterers are diligent and considerate business owners who are too often unfairly maligned. They do not, for example, ‘hollow out communities’, as some have claimed, but rather are part of local communities across Scotland and have been for many, many years.
In Lothian, self-catering is worth £71m to the local economy. Such self-catering properties are legitimate, bona fide businesses whose owners depend on the money generated for their livelihood.
There is no empirical data which demonstrates a link between short-term lets and the housing market; moreover, we know that there are five times as many empty homes in Scotland than self-catering units. At no point will this legislation tackle homelessness or depopulation as alleged by some MSPs.[1]
The housing challenges facing Scotland are far more multifaceted than the existence and growth of short-term and holiday lets alone. For instance:
Any regulations pursued should to be underpinned by robust empirical data. Unfortunately, there has been a tendency to focus on so-called ‘scraped data’ from Airbnb which can lead to misleading conclusions about the nature of the short-term letting landscape in Scotland.
With the Edinburgh Festival Fringe descending on the city, and the capital’s streets, venues – and properties – bursting at the seams with visitors, it seems timely to consider how new legislation will change the housing landscape; not just in Edinburgh but across Scotland. Joanna Millar, Legal Director Gilson Gray LLP unpicks the new legislation.
The whole of the City of Edinburgh Council area has been designated as a Short-term Let Control Area for the purposes of Section 26B of the Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1997, coming into effect on 5th September.
Upon the designation taking effect, use of an entire dwelling that is not a principal home, as a short-term let will be a material change of use requiring planning permission.
Existing planning rules will apply….. Recent policy from planning officers illustrate a pre-disposition to reject planning permission for tenemental flats, citing a material change of use.
Legal advice obtained by the ASSC on the requirement for planning permission for self-catering properties was supplied by the legal firm Brodies LLP in March 2018. Some of the main points from the legal advice obtained by the ASSC include the statement that:
“…the commercial element (in self-catering use] is broadly similar to a residential property being occupied by a tenant paying rent…The question is therefore whether short stay occupation necessarily has different planning considerations/impacts. Short stay occupation involves people living in the property, just for shorter periods. However, that does not necessarily mean the nature/impacts of the occupation are different.”
The advice goes on to discuss how permanent residents can have different movements depending on a variety of issues, including employment, leisure interests, family circumstances, health. For instance, a family with teenage children might enter and leave the property many times during the day and night. Therefore, the advice maintains that:
“Users of a self-catering property are therefore unlikely to exhibit markedly different characteristics to more permanent residents. Disruptive or anti-social behaviour is just as likely in residential use as self-catering use.”
The advice concludes with the following:
“…reasonable arguments can be made that self-catering use does not involve a material change of use from residential use. That has been the outcome in individual cases decided by appeal reporters/inspectors and upheld by the courts. It is also impliedly supported by the statements in the Scottish Government Circular 4/1998.”
Sources:
[1] For further information on housing issues, please consult: https://www.assc.co.uk/policy/housing-and-short-term-lets-in-scotland-the-facts/
[2] https://www.gov.scot/binaries/content/documents/govscot/publications/impact-assessment/2021/06/short-term-lets-licensing-scheme-planning-control-area-legislation-draft-business-regulatory-impact-assessment-bria/documents/short-term-lets-licensing-scheme-planning-control-area-legislation-draft-business-regulatory-impact-assessment-bria-consultation/short-term-lets-licensing-scheme-planning-control-area-legislation-draft-business-regulatory-impact-assessment-bria-consultation/govscot%3Adocument/short-term-lets-licensing-scheme-planning-control-area-legislation-draft-business-regulatory-impact-assessment-bria-consultation.pdf
[3] Parliamentary answer to S6W-02111. Url: https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers/question?ref=S6W-02111
[4] Parliamentary answer to S6W-02109. Url: https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers/question?ref=S6W-02109
[5] https://goodmove.co.uk/empty-housing-hotspots/
[6] https://www.nrscotland.gov.uk/statistics-and-data/statistics/statistics-by-theme/households/household-estimates/2020
[7] https://www.nrscotland.gov.uk/files//statistics/household-estimates/2020/house-est-20-publication.pdf
[8] https://www.gov.scot/publications/housing-statistics-for-scotland-new-house-building/
[9] https://yourviews.parliament.scot/session-5/local-gov-sustainability-covid/consultation/download_public_attachment?sqId=question-2020-06-10-3171498657-publishablefilesubquestion&uuId=866941340