Edinburgh council launches consultation on details of short-term let licensing scheme

A consultation on Airbnb-style short-term lets has been launched by the city council, asking residents, visitors and interested groups and organisations what they think a licensing scheme should look like in the Capital.

The new licensing scheme for short-term lets is due to come int effect in October.

Let us know what you think and join the conversation at the bottom of this article.

Licensing for short-term lets, intended to address concerns about safety, anti-social behaviour and noise, will come into effect in October of this year. Existing hosts and operators will have until April 1, 2023 to apply for a licence and all STLs will be required to have a licence by July 1, 2024.

The council’s consultation, which runs until June 10, asks what additional measures Edinburgh should include in its licensing scheme over and above what has been laid down by the Scottish Parliament. It asks what kind of properties are suitable for STLs and what additional measures should be introduced to tackle noise, anti-social behaviour and damage to properties. There are also questions about temporary licences and in what circumstances they should be granted.

Edinburgh has also asked the Scottish Government to designate the whole of Edinburgh as a short-term let control area, which would require owners letting a property which is not used as a permanent residence to obtain planning permission for change of use.

Around a third of all STLs in Scotland are in Edinburgh and the council has been inundated with over 130 “change of use” applications for short-term lets since the start of April with thousands more expected. Most of the applications were for properties in the city centre, with many for multiple flats within the same building.