Tag Archives: short term lets

Short term lets and the limits to Liberal localism

By Stephen Harte | Mon 2nd October 2023 - 10:28 am

From 1 October 2023, operators of short term lets in Scotland must have a licence issued by the local authority to do so (or at least have applied for a licence before that date).

Local authorities decide for themselves what the licence fee should be (on a cost recovery basis) and how long they last for. Good localism there.

To get a licence, the property will also have to have cleared any planning issues which, together with the ability of a local authority to declare a “control zone”, are ways for a local community to regulate the impact of short term lets. Another big tick for localism.

One of the drivers behind the licensing process is to ensure that short term let premises are safe. A fire in March this year in a building in Montreal, Canada took the lives of seven people – six of whom were guests in an unsafe AirBnB.