Council to conduct planned review of short term lets

June 24, 2024 7:36 am

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As promised last year the council is conducting a review of the licensing around the city’s short term lets strategy this summer.

This review will ensure that everyone who is involved in the scheme has the opportunity to have their say on the way it works.

Regulatory Convener, Councillor Neil Ross, said: “The opportunity for everyone to input into how the short term lets licensing scheme is working was a commitment we gave last year. We want to hear how the scheme has impacted the residents and businesses of Edinburgh.

“With Committee members’ approval today, we’ll now work towards launching a public consultation in the summer. I’m confident this will help us to better understand how businesses, residents and others are finding the policy and regulation of short-term lets in Edinburgh.”

Details of the public consultation will be publicised on the Council’s consultation hub over the summer and a report highlighting the results and further recommendations will be brought forward in the Autumn.

Short term lets were introduced in the city in September 2022 and the planning convener, James Dalgleish said in December 2023 that the policy has led to properties previously used for holiday rentals coming back into the housing market for local people to live in. The council had promoted use of the government legislation in Edinburgh to tackle anti-social behaviour and to reintroduce more housing to the long term rental market.

Court actions raised by a consortium of businesses involved in the holiday letting market led to the Inner House at the Court of Session deciding that the legislation could not be applied retrospectively. Some regulation around entire homes being let out on a short term basis had to be set aside, and the court said there could not be a presumption against allowing entire flats to be used as short term lets. Many complaints had come from those living in stairs where short term lets proliferated. The council changed its rules to comply with the court decision. Although many applications for licences have now been processed, there has been an increased workload for the council’s planners in moving to consider each application on a case by case basis.