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Category: Member Benefits

Short-Term Let Regulations in Scotland

Posted on by Fiona Campbell

Short-Term Let Regulations are coming into force in Scotland.

Context

Tourism is a force for good in Scotland. It makes a major contribution to our country’s GDP, impacts on jobs, spreads wealth across the whole of Scotland; and is a sustainable, innovative and indigenous industry that offers huge potential. Nationally and locally, it benefits our communities.

The ASSC are rightly proud that self-catering has been a mainstay of the Scottish tourism industry for generations and is integral to its success and future vitality. Professional self-caterers are part of local communities across Scotland and have been for many, many years. Their value is demonstrated by the considerable economic contribution: self-catering provides a £867m per annum boost to the Scottish economy, benefiting local communities the length and breadth of Scotland, supporting 23,979 FTE jobs:

We are immensely proud of our businesses, of those we employ, and our record of not only being a fundamental part of Scotland’s world class tourism offering but also of the communities that we live and work in. Given the importance of self-catering to the Scottish tourism industry, which has experienced such a challenging time due to the impact of Covid-19, an appropriate regulatory balance is a necessity, as is a supportive environment to help businesses recover and flourish.

Unfortunately, the Scottish Government has chosen this time to introduce a controversial regulatory framework for short-term lets in Scotland.

Short-Term Let Licensing and Planning Control Areas

The Scottish Government has introduced a licensing regime for short-term lets in Scotland. Anyone looking to grant a short-term let for the first time from 1 October 2022 will need a licence before they do so. Those who are already operating short-term lets before 1 October 2022 must apply for a licence by 1 April 2023 if they wish to continue doing so. It will be an offence punishable by a fine of up to £5,000 for short-term lets granted without a licence.

Every local authority is tasked with setting up a licensing system by 1 October 2022. Existing short-term letting operators should consider the potential planning requirements as well as checking whether their property meets the required licensing standards. For those considering entering the short-term letting market, the additional cost of a licence and potentially planning permission should be taken into account. If buying a property, they should consider what information or evidence the seller might provide to allow short-term letting to continue or indeed begin.

In addition, new planning rules on short-term letting introduce a new power for local authorities to designate the whole or any part of their area as a Control Area. The effect of being in a Control Area is to make use for short-term letting of a whole dwelling house or whole self-contained flat, which is not the home of the host (a secondary letting), a material change of use as a matter of law. Such a secondary letting within a Control Area will always need planning permission as well as a licence.

As yet, there are no confirmed Control Areas but the City of Edinburgh Council has consulted on the whole of the council area being a Control Area and Highland Council are also consulting on whether Badenoch and Strathspey should become one.

Legislation pertaining to Short-Term Lets

It is important to note that these two pieces of legislation are very different, despite the issues being conflated over the last 5 years.  Licensing relates to the safety of an activity, while planning control areas relate to the use of properties.

Association of Scotland’s Self-Caterers

Founded in 1978, the Association of Scotland’s Self-Caterers (ASSC) are the leading source of knowledge on short-term letting and holiday homes in Scotland and are the only trade body representing the interests of the traditional self-catering sector. Self-catering properties have been a longstanding presence in communities for generations, especially in rural communities, and provide an economic boost for local areas and enhance Scotland’s tourist accommodation offering. We represent over 1350 Members, operating tens of thousands of self-catering properties throughout Scotland, from city centre apartments to rural cottages, to lodges and chalets, to castles, all of whom generate £867m per year for the Scottish economy. The ASSC commits its members to maintaining the principles of “quality, integrity, cleanliness, comfort, courtesy and efficiency” and to offering visitors to Scotland consistently high standards within their self-catering properties. The ASSC’s vision is to place our members at the forefront of a professional, vibrant and prosperous Scottish self-catering sector.

The ASSC did not want the form of short-term let licensing that is now on the statute book – a view shared by many stakeholders as well as local authorities in Scotland – and we continue to maintain that it will entail unintended consequences.

However, now that the legislation has been passed by the Scottish Government, and as we move towards the implementation stage and licensing schemes going live across the country, we want local councils to work with us and other relevant tourism and legal stakeholders, to ensure the smoothest possible rollout and to reduce the regulatory burden as much as possible.

In our ASSC manifesto, published prior to the local elections in May Self-Catering: Local, Reliable, Sustainable[1], we highlighted that self-catering can lead the way in providing holiday accommodation that balances the creation of memory-making vacations for our guests while also being a key part of our cities, towns, and villages.

To achieve this, our requests from local government over the next five years were:

  1. To Minimise the Burden of Short-Term Let Licensing: councils should work closely with small business representatives and industry to try and minimise the burden from licensing as much as possible, then carefully monitor its impacts, and not to impose ‘additional conditions’ on already hard-pressed businesses.
  1. To Ensure an Evidence-Base for Short-Term Let Control Areas: now is not the time to further burden self–catering with additional regulations like control areas but if local plans are proposed, they should be underpinned by robust, empirical data.

Whatever happens in terms of the local elections, or how local authorities will implement this legislation, we will aspire to work constructively and collaboratively with our national and local government partners for the benefit of our members, local communities and our industry’s recovery. That’s our pledge to our members and our sector.

[1] https://www.assc.co.uk/policy/local-government-election-manifesto-2022/

Local Government Committee approves ‘arbitrary, irrational & draconian’ short-term let licensing plans

Posted on by Fiona Campbell

The Scottish Parliament’s Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee have today approved the Scottish Government’s plans to introduce short-term let licensing. The regulations will now head to plenary for a vote of all MSPs at a later date.

During their meeting, the Committee heard evidence from the Cabinet Secretary for Housing Shona Robison, accompanied by her officials, who took questions from MSPs. They was also joined by the former Cabinet Secretary for Tourism Fergus Ewing who raised a number of concerns relating to the licensing proposals.

Mr Ewing highlighted that the industry’s proposals for mandatory short-term let registration, just as with the Scottish Landlord Register, could include a fit and proper test – which the government maintained wasn’t the case when dismissing our exemption proposal. He also made valuable points in relation to the existing regulations faced by industry, anti-social behaviour powers that local councils needed to enforce, and the threat of judicial review arising from the licensing proposals.

Questions were also put on the following from other MSPs:

  • The data underpinning the Scottish Government’s plans.
  • Whether overprovision powers could be brought back at a later date.
  • Why a mandatory registration scheme had been rejected in favour of licensing.
  • The costs to local authorities arising from licensing, specifically the differences in the level of fees estimated in the Scottish Government’s BRIA and those from SOLAR.
  • If the Scottish Government had considered piloting their regulations, or giving local councils full powers to determine whether licensing was appropriate for their area.
  • The costs to business from licensing and compliance costs – and if many businesses would close as a result.
  • The views of Police Scotland on short-term let licensing and the anti-social behaviour powers already available to local councils in respect of holiday lets.
  • The Scottish Government’s planned review of licensing in 2023.

After the Committee discussion, the licensing plans were approved by five votes to two.

You can view a recording of the evidence session and vote here: https://www.scottishparliament.tv/meeting/local-government-housing-and-planning-committee-december-21-2021

In response to today’s development, the ASSC have issued the following comment.

Fiona Campbell, Chief Executive of the Association of Scotland’s Self-Caterers, said:

“The ASSC is naturally disappointed that the Committee has agreed to the revised Licensing Order. This is despite the strength of opposition highlighted in their recent survey, not to mention widespread concern from tourism, business and local authority stakeholder responses in the Scottish Government’s third consultation exercise on the issue.

We maintain that the Scottish Government’s regulations were unfit for purpose when withdrawn in February 2021 and remain so in December 2021, largely as industry and expert insight has been dismissed. Make no mistake, they will damage the Scottish tourism industry – which is still in survival mode – and will burden local councils at a time they can least afford it.

It also comes at the worst possible time for self-caterers and B&B owners who face an uncertain future with the challenges associated with Covid-19. Policymakers need to take these circumstances into account and support small and micro businesses through this and minimise the burden.

We endorse the views expressed at the Committee by the former Cabinet Secretary for Tourism Fergus Ewing on the merits of a mandatory registration scheme, which contrary to the position of the Scottish Government, could include a fit and proper person test. Mr Ewing also raised the valuable economic contribution made by the industry but that many operators will now fear their business being confiscated through the draconian powers made available to local councils and the risk of judicial review therein.

These regulations are, in the words of the former Cabinet Secretary, ‘arbitrary, irrational & draconian’, and it is not too late for the Scottish Government to think again. With the regulations now heading to a vote in plenary, we would therefore strongly encourage all MSPs to back small business and protect livelihoods in Scotland’s £867m self-catering industry by rejecting these ill-timed and onerous plans.”

 

https://www.heraldscotland.com/politics/19800535.snp-msp-fergus-ewing-labels-governments-airbnb-crackdown-plans-draconian/

Cancellations for Larger Properties in Light of Restrictions

Posted on by Fiona Campbell

The Scottish Government has issued advice regarding reducing the number of household contacts to no more than three.

The result has been a slew of cancellations and requests for advice on where this leaves operators in terms of refunds.

The ASSC has taken legal advice and it seems it is really a matter for each operator. From a purely legalistic point of view,  the operator can maintain their terms and conditions as long as these are clear.

If you hold a deposit when a guest cancels, the worry is that they simply will not return and you will have lost the good will of that guest.  It may be prudent to move the deposit to an alternative time if at all possible.