Edinburgh could become 'short term let control area' alongside climate emergency planning proposals in new city plan

Developers in Edinburgh could face tighter restrictions to make buildings more sustainable

The Capital could be designated as a "short term let control area" to safeguard residential homes - amid a host of choices to be put to the public for the city to help tackle climate change and protect communities through the planning system.

Edinburgh City Council has published choices it could take when it draws up its City Plan 2030 - how the authority manages future development amid a commitment to become carbon neutral in the next 10 years and an expected population increase.

Under the draft proposals, which will be subject to an eight-week statutory consultation if agreed by the authority's planning committee next week, developers could have to provide 35 per cent of affordable housing as part of significant schemes. The current rules only require 25 per cent to be made available. Planning rules could also be amended to ensure developers "create places that focus on people not cars".

Greenbelt land, including at Kirkliston, east of Riccarton and south of Edinburgh Airport could be released to accelerate the number of homes being delivered. But the council's preferred option is to use brownfield sites - those that have already been developed. But this approach will not result in as many homes being built and officials have warned that a more intervention is likely to be required to secure enough land.

Developers may have to "demonstrate how their design will incorporate measures to tackle and adapt to climate change" while student homes could have to be more easily adaptable to become residential accommodation in the future.

The council's planning convener, Cllr Neil Gardiner, said: "We need to have an open conversation with our residents, businesses and other stakeholders about how our city grows and changes to meet future needs where this growth takes place. City Plan 2030 is about us making the right choices now so that our residents can make reasonable and informed choices about how and where they live and how they get around in the future.

“We’re embarking on one of the most significant periods of transformation in a generation and we need to rethink the way we expand to accommodate our growing population. We’re already committed to building 20,000 affordable and low-cost homes by 2027 but the city needs more housing, with particular emphasis on affordable homes.

“The plan we finally publish will affect us all to some degree and it’s important that we hear from residents on this journey to accommodate future needs. The history of Edinburgh is about successfully adapting and evolving – now it’s our turn to come together to think about how we can plan most effectively for the future.”

Short term lets

One choice to be put to the public is to potentially designate the entire city or parts of it as a "short term let control area", which would mean "planning permission will always be required for the change of use of whole properties for short-term lets", under new rules being introduced by the Scottish Government.

The council believes there are 14,000 Airbnb listings in the Capital - while the Scottish Government has announced that local authorities will be able to licence short term lets by spring 2021. The authority has always maintained an ambition to cap the number of short term lets in certain parts of the city.

Cllr Gardiner said: "We are limited and we are doing all we can do at the moment. The licensing will allow us to recover the costs of going through that process of policing it.

"Some of these things are effectively hotels with no concierge - it's a complete change of use. They are designed as houses, they have provided houses for generations and it's interrupting the effective use of the other properties in the stair because when one effectively becomes a hotel, it effects other people's amenity."

Green belt

Additional green belt land could be released to accelerate the number of new homes being delivered in the Capital. But council officials have warned that their preferred option would be be use brownfield options instead. Despite the brownfield option delivering 17,400 new homes compared to the 27,900 with green belt release, officials stress enough housing will be provided through either option or a blended choice.

If the preferred brownfield option is backed, the document warns that the authority may "need to intervene to deliver 275 hectares of employment land for mixed redevelopment" and the approach "may require a significant compulsory purchase order programme to ensure land comes forward".

Cllr Gardiner said: "The favoured option of the administration is to go for a brownfield strategy but we need to look at other viable options. All options would need to be carbon neutral because that's the published policy of the council.

"Greenfield isn't an easy option because it needs infrastructure to support it and to get a bus route or a tram, they would need sufficient density to make that viable. We are promoting this brownfield first option because there is existing infrastructure and there are a lot of potential sites that are under-used currently."

Pedestrians over cars

Another choice being put to the public is to "ensure we create places that focus on people not cars and prioritise public transport, walking and cycling to encourage active and healthy lives".

If backed by the public, "development must be well served by existing or planned new public transport, walking and cycling infrastructure". The document also points to a choice that would "protect against the development of additional car parking in the city centre to support the delivery of the council’s city centre transformation programme", which would see cars treated "as guests".

The council could decide "to determine parking levels in development based on targets for trips by walking, cycling and public transport."

Cllr Gardiner said: "We are not anti-car but we recognise that bits of the city have been designed around the car. It will be a difficult change for people. There's no reason why new areas, if they are put in the right place and have the right infrastructure, why you need to own a car.

"If you look at aerial photographs, it's amazing how much space is taken up by car parking and not spaces for children to play, places for older people to sit on benches and enjoy nature."

Student housing

The city plan choices document points to overhauling its rules regarding purpose-built student housing - requiring developers to provide more housing and affordable housing for schemes over a certain size.

The documents highlights that student developments may have to be "built for and managed by" one of Edinburgh's universities or colleges and cap the amount of studio flats at 10 per cent - so they can be easily converted to residential housing in the future, if required.

Cllr Gardiner said: "There's a real risk of student housing becoming obsolete. With some of the developments, there could be a market glut and students will go to the ones that are most affordable and equally the best quality.

"If student number fluctuate, it's difficult to see some of it being converted into good residential accommodation. There's probably a market interest for developers to consider, in the long-term, to build a building for generations as we are talking about sustainable buildings."

Affordable housing

A choice in the new document could be to require developers bringing forward plans over a certain size to provide 35 per cent of the units as on-site affordable housing. Currently, the level is set at 25 per cent.

Cllr Gardiner said: "We are looking at the affordable housing percentage going up from 25 per cent to 35 per cent. We have looked at Fife and Stirling who have this current percentage.

"We have had discussion with the development community and we recognise we need to have more affordable housing in this city."

Carbon neutral homes

One choice being put forward by the council is to "require all buildings and conversions to meet the zero carbon / platinum standards a set out in the current Scottish building regulations".

If taken forward, developers will need to "demonstrate how their design will incorporate measures to tackle and adapt to climate change".

Cllr Gardiner said: "We can all play our own part in the climate change agenda - but we all need to be given choices which enable us to play our part. It's about re-striking the balance between people and cars for the benefit of everyone and bringing things nearer to hand so you don't need to make as many journeys.

"Increasing rainfall in Edinburgh is all to do with climate change. Soil drying in the Pentlands meant it didn't absorb the rainwater, so that caused a lot of havoc last summer. We need to address it."