28/02/2022

Edinburgh Planning Control Area: Legal Opinion

As an organisation, the Association of Scotland’s Self-Caterers represents 153 professional self- catering businesses in Edinburgh and 1369 throughout Scotland. We submitted a robust response to City of Edinburgh Council’s (CEC) proposal to designate a city-wide control area on behalf of our members. We are very concerned and disappointed that City of Edinburgh Council (CEC) appear to have disregarded many of the legitimate points and sources of contrary evidence, and have proceeded regardless with a Proposal which is widely believed to be fundamentally flawed.

The ASSC sent a letter to the City of Edinburgh Council today (28th February 2022) highlighting our concerns.

The Proposal adopted by CEC will have a devastating effect on the accommodation industry in Edinburgh – which is much more diverse than simply Airbnb, despite what the Proposal suggests. It is regrettable that CEC has adopted a scheme which is misconceived in its ability to address any of the underlying policy objectives. The consequences of this, intended or otherwise, is restrictive for consumers, and anti-business.

Given our very serious concerns about the chilling effect and detrimental impact of the Proposal will have on many of our members operating in Edinburgh, we have had no choice but to seek legal advice. Please see below correspondence sent to CEC today from our solicitors, Burness Paull LLP.

2022.02.28 – Letter from BP to CEC on behalf of ASSC

We look forward to a substantive response in short order to identify a path forward.