Bed and Breakfast owners and Self-Caterers are being urged to attend a SkyeConnect Webinar this week to discuss the unexpected inclusion of the B&B sector in the Scottish Government’s Short-term Let Licensing Legislation.
THURSDAY 14TH JANUARY 1100
The webinar will be chaired by Fiona Campbell, CEO of Association of Scotland’s Self Caterers and David Weston CEO of the Bed and Breakfast Association on Thursday 14 January at 11 am.
B+B’s have not been excluded from the definition of Short-term Lets in the legislation. SkyeConnect, the ASSC and the Bed and Breakfast Association are concerned that B&Bs have not been adequately consulted or made aware of the damaging effect that the proposed Short-Term Let Licensing Legislation will have on B&B businesses as well as self-catering businesses.
The ASSC believes that a licensing system is a blunt tool to fix a perceived and localised problem of amateur Airbnb operators, rather than being a solution that is appropriate for the whole of the Scotland. It is currently proposed that the legislation will come into effect in April this year, with licences being required by all operators by April 2024.
The aim of this Webinar is to provide information to allow B&B owners, and Self-Caterers, to understand the impact of this legislation and to formulate written evidence to be considered by the Scottish Parliament’s Local Government and Communities Committee.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Here are some of the onerous impacts of the Licensing Legislation on B&Bs and Self-Catering premises:
- Guest arrival and departure curfews
- Requirement to show the EPC rating of a B&B / Self-Catering property and meet the Repairing Standard
- Notification of any alterations to the layout to the property
- Setting occupancy limits
- Requirement to provide ‘adequate’ facilities for storage and disposal of refuse and recycling
- Minimising noise: replacing wood floors with carpeted or vinyl flooring / installing door closers / noise monitoring kits
- Requiring visits to inspect that conditions have been met
- Data to be provided to local authorities on number of nights let (including number of persons per night)
- A licence fee of approximately £1000 per annum plus a ‘monitoring fee’ of a further estimated £1000 per annum, in addition to a possible planning permission fee of £401, if your property falls within a Planning Control Zone.
- A requirement to renew a Licence every three years
- A requirement to apply for retrospective planning permission or to be classified as a “guest house” to gain exemption from the licensing requirement (the latter being excluded from the definition of a Short Term Let within the SSI)