Two consultations on proposed new short-term let control areas across the Highlands have gone live today and will run until 5pm on 23 June 2026.
The consultations, launched by The Highland Council, cover proposed control areas for Inverness City and a wider Highland Rural area.
The Inverness City consultation includes:
The Highland Rural consultation includes:
The consultation documents include background information, statements of reasons, maps and details of planned public engagement activity, including in-person events and webinars.
The consultations can be accessed here:
Once consultation responses have been submitted, the proposals will be referred back to Highland Council’s Economy and Infrastructure Committee for consideration.
The ASSC is urging self-catering operators and associated businesses across Scotland to take part in the consultations, regardless of whether they operate within the proposed areas. The association believes the outcome could have significant implications for the future direction of short-term let policy nationwide and says it is vital that decision-makers hear evidence from across the sector before any further expansion of control areas is considered.
Fiona Campbell MBE, Chief Executive of the ASSC, commented:
“There is zero evidence that Planning Control Areas increase affordable housing, reduce rents, or solve the housing crisis. None. Highland Council is attempting to sell the public a fantasy through this sham consultation while knowingly risking enormous damage to local tourism economies and small businesses. This is not evidence-based policymaking, it is political theatre.”
“It is astonishing that Highland Council appears prepared to ignore a Court of Session ruling and continue promoting an interpretation that has already been challenged and defeated in court. If the Council persists with an unlawful approach, it should be under no illusion that further legal action will follow.”
“The Council needs to ask itself some basic questions: where is the economic impact assessment on the damage these proposals could cause? Where’s the plan to change the Highland’s unwanted position of Scotland’s empty homes hotspot?
“Communities deserve serious housing solutions, not performative policymaking designed to scapegoat self-catering businesses for decades of wider housing failure.”
Self-catering alone contributes approximately £200 million per annum to the Highland economy, supporting jobs, local supply chains, and rural sustainability. Expanding a policy without first demonstrating that it is effective risks pursuing further restrictions based on assumption rather than evidence and runs the risk of damaging the visitor economy for no material benefit.”