All short-term lets in Scotland will require a licence to operate under a new law approved by the Scottish Parliament this week.
Local authorities will be required to establish a short-term lets licensing scheme by 1 October 2022, and existing hosts and operators will have until 1 April 2023 to apply for a licence confirming that their properties are safe and that they are suitable people to let them.
The Scottish Government said the legislation is a response to concerns raised by residents and communities about the impact of short-term let properties on their local communities, including noise, antisocial behaviour and the impact on the supply of housing in some areas.
‘This legislation is a significant milestone on our path to bringing in an effective system of regulating short-term lets’, said Housing Secretary Shona Robison.
‘Our licensing scheme will allow local authorities and communities to take action to manage issues more effectively, without unduly curtailing the many benefits of short-term lets to hosts, visitors and the economy.
‘We have already introduced legislation allowing councils to establish short-term let control areas and manage numbers of short-term lets. This is the next step to delivering a licensing scheme that will ensure short-term lets are safe and that allowing them to continue to make a positive impact on Scotland’s tourism industry and local economies while meeting the needs of local communities’.
The new law covers the whole of Scotland, including island and rural communities, and, said Robinson, ‘offers flexibility to local authorities in how it is implemented based on local needs and concerns’.
All short-term let properties will require a licence by July 2024. Licensing fees, to be set by local authorities, are expected to be between £214 and £436 per three-year period. Licence applications must be granted by licensing authorities, unless there are grounds to refuse them.
Guidance is available to hosts and operators, for licensing authorities and letting agents. Grounds for refusing licences are set out in draft guidance published in June 2021.
