Edinburgh short term lets: Edinburgh council leader Cammy Day backs calls to delay go-live date for scheme

One councillor said residents of the city will feel 'rightly utterly betrayed’.

The leader of Edinburgh council, who was an architect of the city’s controversial short-term letting licensing scheme, has backed calls to delay the go-live date for the second time.

Cammy Day said in an interview with the BBC that the scheme had had a low number of applications, with only 240 of around 12,000 short-term lets in the city having registered, and he said he recognised there was a 'nervousness’ about the deadline.

Self catering properties, bed and breakfasts and other short term letting accommodation have until October 1 to apply for a licence to operate or stop trading. The aim is to stem the rise of Airbnb-type properties and tackle the city's affordable housing shortage. But Airbnb hosts and other self-catering providers in the city have claimed the scheme will drive thousands of businesses out of the sector and cause a tourism drought.

Council leader said backs lobby on delaying scheme

Mr Day said: "It’s a low turnout but I understand the sector will put applications in towards the end of September for that date in October, but if they want to join us in a lobby to ask for an extension to that we would be more than happy to have that discussion.

"We’ll continue to work closely with the sector to ensure everyone understands what they need to do to meet the deadline and operate within the law. My door is always open, and I would welcome further discussions with industry representatives and government.”

Self-catering providers opposed to the scheme said any move to delay would be a ‘sensible decision’ but others, including several councillors, have accused Mr Day of capitulating to pressure from operators with one branding it ‘spineless’. And his position has prompted anger among city councillors and residents.

City centre SNP councillor Finlay McFarlane called on Mr Day to meet his constituents to explain why he has backed delaying the scheme, branding secondary letting ‘unforgivable’. He said: “Labour told us when they put the Tories in charge of short term let licenses that the policy would remain in place, but here they are adopting the Tory position virtually word for word.

“And now the Labour council leader is now offering to lobby the Scottish Government on behalf of the short term let sector. Broken promises doesn’t even begin to cover it. Residents will rightly feel utterly betrayed.”

Kate Campbell, SNP councillor for Portobello and Craigmillar, also branded it ‘spineless’. On social media, she said: “Utterly spineless from Labour. Airbnb type lets have blighted our city. 12k short-term lets in Edinburgh and 80% might withdraw from the market. You know what? Good! They'll go back to being homes. With 5k+ households in homeless accommodation that's exactly what is needed.”

It comes after a council paper revealed that self-catering tourism accommodation is expected to be slashed by 80 per cent as a result of the short-term let and tourist tax legislation.