Short Term Lets: Consultation on a licensing scheme and planning control areas in Scotland

Overview

This consultation seeks views on the Scottish Government's detailed proposals for the regulation of short-term lets which will form the basis for secondary legislation to be laid in Parliament in December.

Why we are consulting

We are committed to ensuring that local authorities have appropriate regulatory powers to balance the needs and concerns of their communities with wider economic and tourism interests.

In April 2019, the Scottish Government launched a first consultation and commissioned independent research into the impact of short-term lets on people and communities.  The 2019 consultation paper set out our understanding of the benefits of, and issues around, short-term lets, the principles that would help to guide our approach, and some proposed approaches to regulation. 

In January 2020, we announced plans to establish a licensing scheme for short-term lets using powers under the Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982 and give local authorities the power to introduce short-term let control areas under powers in the Planning (Scotland) Act 2019.  This second consultation sets out a definition of short-term lets and detailed proposals to create the licensing scheme and establish control areas.

The purpose of this consultation is to help the Scottish Government ensure that the legislation laid at the Scottish Parliament in December is as efficient and effective as possible. 

Stakeholder workshops

In line with COVID-19 restrictions and guidance, we are not organising face-to-face meetings to discuss the consultation proposals.

However, we are engaging through on-line workshops or stakeholder-organised events with representatives of:

• Accrediting organisations
• Airbnb hosts
• Letting agencies
• Local authority planning, environmental health, licensing and housing officers and COSLA
• Law Society of Scotland
• Police Scotland
• Platforms and channel managers
• Resident groups from urban and rural settings
• Scottish Fire and Rescue Service
• Trade associations (STAA and ASSC)
• Visit Scotland and destination management organisations

Our workshops are by invitation only.  This is so that each workshop can cover different interests and perspectives effectively.  Whilst we cannot invite everyone to a workshop, the consultation paper sets out all the information that will be covered in workshops and all are welcome to submit a consultation response.

Read the consultation paper.

What happens next

We aim to lay the secondary legislation giving local authorities powers to license short-term lets and introduce control areas in December so that it can be in force by spring 2021.