The ASSC has received a note to all respondents to the North Ayrshire Council Short-Term Lets Licensing Policy Statement consultation:
It was intended that the draft Licensing Policy Statement would be discussed at the Licensing Committee meeting set for Wednesday 14 September 2022. However the consultation on the draft LPS has received an unprecedented amount of public comment, raising many issues, so in order to give the matter proper consideration the Convenor has directed that the matter will instead be discussed at a Special Meeting of the Licensing Committee, to be set just for this. That Special Meeting is likely to be on Tuesday 27 September 2022.
The date and time of that Special Meeting, and the agenda and related documents, will be available on the Council website:
The meeting will be open to the public.
In order to assist ‘Existing Hosts’ to benefit from the special rules which allow ‘Existing Hosts’ to benefit from the special rules which allow Hosts who are currently using particular accommodation without a Licence (these are called “Transitional Provisions”), the Council will soon be adding to their website:
https://www.north-ayrshire.gov.uk/business/licences-and-permits/short-term-let-licence.aspx
details of a free-of-charge non-statutory scheme to assist “Existing Hosts” by issuing ‘letters of comfort’.
The website will include a Request Form which ‘Existing Hosts’ can use to ask the Council to confirm their ‘Existing Host’ status in relation to particular accommodation. The Council are setting-up this procedure so that the Hosts will have an ‘official’ document to show guests, listings agencies and insurance companies that they are currently entitled to operate without a Licence. The Council are doing this without any legal obligation to do so.
It is important to note that:
- the Request Form is not a ‘licence application’,
- the Confirmation (if issued) is not a ‘licence’,
- the issue of Confirmation does not remove the Host’s need to apply for a Licence no later than 31 March 2023, and
- the Confirmation can only apply to the particular accommodation described in the request (it is possible that a person might be an ‘Existing Host’ in relation to one house, but not in relation to another).
What happens after that date depends on what the Hosts do:
- If they apply for a Licence for that accommodation no later than 31 March 2023, they can continue operating without a Licence for as long as it takes the Council to make a decision on their applications;
- If they don’t, they must stop operating until and unless the Council has granted their applications.
Regards,
Chris Pollock
Licensing Administration Officer
North Ayrshire Council
Sent on behalf of Raymond Lynch
Senior Manager (Legal Services)
Clerk to the Licensing Committee
North Ayrshire Council