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Category: Policy

Licensing or Registration for Short-Term Lets in Scotland

Licensing or Registration for Short-Term Lets in Scotland

The Association of Scotland’s Self-Caterers (ASSC) welcomes the constructive and collaborative approach being taken by the Scottish Government’s Short-Term Let Delivery Group.

This engagement provides an opportunity to properly assess and refine the detail of the proposed short-term let regulations to ensure that there is an appropriate balance between the needs of local communities and Scotland’s important tourist economy.

We believe that a licensing system is a blunt tool to fix a perceived and localised problem of amateur operators in Edinburgh, rather than being a solution that is appropriate for the whole of the Scotland, nor is it one that makes a necessary distinction between different types of visitor accommodation providers.

The ASSC remains concerned that little differentiation is made between different types of operator in what is a diverse short-term letting landscape, with potentially dire unintended consequences to the professional self-catering sector that contributes £723m to Scotland.

The ASSC also believe that, due to the impact of Covid-19, the potential pitfalls and shortcomings of licensing come into sharper focus in two main respects: (a) the impact for resource stretched local authorities having to deal with an influx of tens of thousands of licensing applications; and (b) the impact any disproportionate licensing system could have on the recovery of Scottish tourism.

The ASSC have already developed a comprehensive and robust set of policy recommendations, as set out in our Forward Together paper, which should be read in conjunction with this document. This provides a proportionate, evidence-based and future-proofed solution for national and local government in Scotland in terms of short-term regulation. Read the paper: 2020_ForwardTogether.

Overall, the ASSC wish to work with policymakers to make the regulations work for communities and the tourism industry, recognising the Scottish Government’s strength of intent to regulate, but also to ensure that anything taken forward is not disproportionate and which would threaten the fragile recovery of Scottish tourism in these challenging times.

Read the Licensing or Registration Policy Paper.

£1 Million Grant for Self-Catering Businesses

£1 Million Grant for Self-Catering Businesses

VisitScotland and the Association of Scotland’s Self-Caterers were delighted to have announced a £1 million Scottish Government grant available for self-catering businesses in Scotland, in August 2020.

Our economy has been hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic and this new fund was made available to help alleviate the hardship some self-catering businesses are facing.

This new fund was made available for businesses who hadn’t received any support via other funds as a result of the current pandemic. Applicants were eligible to receive a one-off grant of £10,000.

Businesses across Scotland have faced unprecedented challenges as a result of COVID-19 and we worked with VisitScotland to support Scotland’s £723 million self-catering sector. Our goal continues to be to ensure that tourism rebounds to be one of the most successful sectors of the Scottish economy once again.

Applications for the new Coronavirus (COVID-19) Support Scheme for Self-Catering businesses, which will be administered by VisitScotland, will go live on Monday 3 August at 9am.

The fund was delivered through a partnership between the Association of Scotland’s Self-Caterers (ASSC) and VisitScotland to those businesses which have been unable to benefit from any financial support during the Covid-19 crisis.

Scotland’s national tourism organisation administered the cash through a central email system and took responsibility for getting the money to the operators who needed it. The ASSC reviewed applications alongside VisirScotland and helped make decisions on which applications were successful.

Scotland’s self-caterers were among the first to shut down their businesses as the country went into lockdown, with operators making significant financial and personal sacrifices as part of the effort against COVID-19. Many also played a key role in supporting frontline health workers during the pandemic, providing free or discounted stays for NHS staff.

Throughout the pandemic, the ASSC has worked tirelessly to ensure that Scotland’s hardworking operators were not left behind in terms of accessing business support grants. Alongside work to remove inequities in the system. This new fund for self-caterers is the culmination of those assiduous efforts.

ASSC Chief Executive, Fiona Campbell, said:

“The ASSC has doggedly and persistently fought the corner of our members on business support grants. We are therefore delighted to see this fund being launched and welcome everything that it will do to help Scotland’s £723m self-catering sector.

“Scotland’s self-caterers have sacrificed so much to help the country suppress the virus and we will continue to do our bit to keep everyone safe now that the tourism sector has reopened to visitors.

“The ASSC is also thrilled to be working with our trusted, valued, and cherished partners at VisitScotland and we can’t wait to get started to get the funds to deserving, professional self-catering businesses.”