Media Coverage This Week

• Home owners who cash in by renting out their properties to visitors during major events, festivals or sporting occasions such as next month’s Open Championship could be exempted from short- licensing.

Scotsman, Home owners can get exemptions to rent out properties licence-free for major Scottish events like Open Championship, 20/06/22

Times, Festival hosts may avoid lettings crackdown, 21/06/22

Fiona Campbell, CEO of the Association of Scotland’s Self-Caterers, said: 

“Short-term lets play a vital if not indispensable role in providing alternative sources of accommodation to ensure Scotland has the necessary capacity to host major events like the Open Championship. After the challenges of the pandemic, it is brilliant that we can welcome back many more people to Scotland, showcasing our unique hospitality, with local businesses like self-catering benefiting in the process.”

“However, the whole basis of the licensing scheme was to provide mandatory health and safety protections and a level playing field. Enabling temporary exemptions of this nature would appear to run contrary to this when hard-pressed small businesses will have to comply.” 

“Now that licensing is in place, and to protect the status and reputation of our tourism and events offering to visitors, there should be a fairness and consistency of approach between all accommodation providers. Ensuring health and safety is paramount and this need not come at the expense of our economy.”

“Those with a temporary exemption should make the same financial contribution through fees if not all of the mandatory health and safety conditions will apply.”

• The Highland Council is consulting on the Council’s short term let draft policy statement and proposed additional conditions for a licence.

• Scotland’s second home owners may be stripped of £400 energy grant

Scotsman, Scotland’s second home owners may be stripped of £400 energy grant, 23/06/22