Edinburgh short-term lets: Owners seeking compensation warn bill to council could top £1 million

More than 100 operators have lodged formal complaints of maladministration against the council, citing “unlawful” charges amounting to thousands of pounds in planning fees.

Edinburgh was designated Scotland’s first control zone for short-term lets (STLs) in 2022, with the council requiring all owners of lets which were not their principal home to apply for planning permission for change of use.

Ralph Averbuch says short-term lets are a key part of Edinburgh’s tourism industry

But the Court of Session ruled in 2023 that planning applications were only mandatory for properties which changed use after the control zone came into force.

Now STL owners are seeking compensation for the “unlawful” planning fees they were charged for applications which should never have been required.

Campaign group Justice for Scotland’s Self-Caterers says the claims lodged so far could cost the council over £300,000, but with further complaints expected, it says the total compensation owed could reach more than £1 million.

Ralph Averbuch, who lets three properties in central Edinburgh and is spokesperson for Justice for Scotland’s Self-Caterers, said short-term lets were a key part of Edinburgh’s tourism industry.

“Edinburgh Council’s recent actions have caused immense distress and in some cases loss of employment to self-catering operators that had historically been advised no action was required other than moving from council tax rolls to non-domestic rates.

“Now that we have a new regime in place, it has never justified the retrospective hounding of those that traded prior to the introduction of STL licensing and the opportunities the council took to use this as a pretext for closing down a sector that accounts for well under 1 per cent of all homes in the Capital.”

He said self-catering accommodation was “a thin oil that greases all the cogs of the city”.

“People coming to work for two or three months of the year on a short-term contract; families who have a crisis and have to get out of their house because it’s flooded or they had a fire; people going to hospital and wanting to have their family come with them but they don’t live in the area so they’re looking for temporary accommodation; there are a whole range of reasons, not just tourism. But there’s no question, tourism included, w absolutely need a base layer of self-catering for the city to function effectively - and that has grown over many years to meet demand.

“The council's lack of recognition of the wider impacts has already done great harm, adding cost to operators and visitors alike.”

Fiona Campbell, CEO of the Association of Scotland’s Self-Caterers (ASSC), said: “It is deeply regrettable that the self-catering community must yet again challenge Edinburgh Council’s STL policies which amount to an ideologically driven de facto ban.

“Despite being a professional and integral part of Edinburgh’s tourism economy, legitimate businesses continue to face an existential threat.

“The mishandling of STL regulations by the Scottish Government was evident from the outset. We continuously warned that they were not fit for purpose and now we are seeing the consequences unfold.”