In October 2022 the Scottish Government approved a scheme that required hosts of short-term lets to apply for a licence.
Since the scheme’s approval however, Edinburgh City Council has had immense difficulty in trying to implement the licensing scheme.
Short-term lets are short-term accommodations rented out to people for brief periods of time, usually Airbnb’s or similar.
The license requires hosts of secondary lettings, like second homes or a series of flats, that are used as short term lets to pay a fee of £653 per annum.
Under the same scheme, a house of multiple occupancy (HMO) licence will only be £120 per annum.
The licence is designed to protect long-term residents, notably students, from being negatively affected by the boom in tourists each year that presents an enticing alternative income to landlords of flats.
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Short-term lets like Airbnb’s are not subjected to the same regulation as ordinary lets, and with the high summer footfall in Edinburgh, can be let at much higher rates.
Schemes like this exist across the UK, with the City of London requiring short-term let hosts who host for a total period longer than 90 days a year to have a permit.
The Welsh Government also introduced legislation that doubles or triples council tax on second homes used as short-term lets.
Confusion has arisen over the way Edinburgh Council has attempted to implement the scheme.
The short-term licensing scheme was initially delayed as a “one-off” to help tenants and hosts deal with the cost-of-living crisis.
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But the scheme floundered once more after a Court of Session review found that some of the council’s plans for the legislation’s local implementation was unlawful in June 2023.
Furthermore, Edinburgh City Council left many confused over the future of the scheme after Council Leader Cammy Day in an interview with BBC Radio Scotland stated: “A further delay to the scheme was something we would be supportive of”.
Day has since corrected the statement, taking to Twitter to add that “this deadline is set in legislation and we can’t change it”.
Amongst the confusion, lobbying groups like the Association of Scottish Self-Caterers (ASSC) have voiced concerns over how the scheme might impact the tourist industry in the city, stating that:
“Attacking a sector, particularly one as valuable as tourism and especially short-term rentals, that makes such a huge contribution to city life would be counterproductive and to the city’s detriment”.
Edinburgh has seen a remarkable rise in the number of short-term lets across the city.
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A survey conducted in 2019 by the Scottish Government noted that the number of Airbnb listings in Scotland had tripled between 2016 and 2019, going from just under 10,500 to 32,000.
As of May 2019, there were 9,994 in Edinburgh alone, amounting to almost a third of all of Scotland’s short term lets.
While confusion reigns in Edinburgh City Council, the Scottish government has remained resolute that “there will be no more extensions”, according to First Minister Humza Yousaf.
The ASSC found that less than 300 hosts had applied for a licence.
Any hosts who fail to apply for a short term let licence by the 1 October deadline can be fined up to £2,500.
“Edinburgh City Chambers” by Ronnie Leask is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.