Tag: unlicensed short term lets

Shocking new analysis reveals the scale of Edinburgh’s Short Term Let legal loopholes

Shocking new analysis carried out by Living Rent and Leith Harbour and Newhaven Community Council on data obtained by Edinburgh Green Councillor Chas Booth reveals that only three in ten licensed Short Term Lets in the capital have planning permission.

Meanwhile a quarter have withdrawn a planning application and just under a quarter have not even applied for planning consent at all.

The analysis covers secondary lets only – in other words letting an entire property that is not someone’s home, and does not include people letting out a room in their own home. The research was released more than four years after the introduction of Edinburgh’s Short Term Let control area, in September 2022, which declared that a Short Term Let in the city was “a material change of use requiring planning permission”.

The analysis was based on comparing the publicly available register of short term let licences with data on every short term let planning application made in the city since 2018, obtained by Cllr Chas Booth.

This analysis shows that:

1,225 (69.84%) of Edinburgh’s 1,754 licensed Short Term Lets do not have planning permission (secondary letting)

465 (26.51%) licensed Short Term Lets have applied for planning permission and then withdrawn the application before it was determined (secondary letting)

425 (24.23%) licensed Short Term Lets have never applied for planning permission (secondary letting)

Commenting on the analysis, Cllr Chas Booth, who obtained the data, said: “Edinburgh’s short term let control area was meant to ensure every STL in the city had planning permission. Yet four years on from its introduction, it clearly isn’t working. Residents living next to unregulated lets have to put up with the disruption that brings, and every STL is one fewer home in a city with a housing emergency.”

“This analysis shows two things. First, the Council isn’t doing enough to enforce the planning and licensing system, and that must improve. But more importantly, it shows the Scottish Government’s legislation is not fit for purpose. There is a loophole as big as a barn door that hundreds of STL owners are exploiting, and residents are paying the price.

“Ministers need to wake up and smell the coffee and act urgently to close it.”

Booth added: “I’m very grateful to Living Rent and Leith Harbour and Newhaven Community Council for carrying out this detailed analysis. If community volunteers can establish the scale of the problem, the Scottish Government has no excuse for not acknowledging it and fixing it.”

Jon ‘Geo’ Camp from Leith Harbour and Newhaven Community Council, who undertook the analysis, said: “Our community council has heard from many residents concerned about short term lets, and this analysis shows why. 

“A significant number of licensed lets have no planning permission, and many of them applied for it and then withdrew before a decision was made. 

“Residents need to know the system that regulates these lets is working properly, and too often they don’t believe that it is. 

“We will keep listening to our community, and keep working with councillors and MSPs to make sure these issues are heard and resolved.”

First unlicensed short term let operator fined in the Capital

The first conviction against the operator of an unlicensed short term let (STL) has been secured in Edinburgh.

The convicted owner of an unlicensed STL in the west of the city has received a £600 fine and was ordered to pay £500 compensation to the neighbour who raised the case with the Council.

The operator was then reported to the Procurator Fiscal (PF) by the Council and PF started criminal proceedings. The neighbour reported the unlicensed property after experiencing repeated loud noise and disruption by guests, on one occasion witnessing 19 people staying at the unlicenced STL above them.

The successful case has further implications for the convicted property owner as it’s likely to affect any future licence applications by the same owner.

To operate as a registered landlord or licence holder for a House of Multiple Occupation (HMO) or STL, you need to be a fit and proper person and any relevant convictions including operating an unlicenced STL are taken into consideration when this assessment is made.

Operating as an unregistered landlord or unlicenced HMO is an offence which carries a maximum fine of up to £50,000, while the maximum fine for operating an unlicensed STL is currently £2,500.

The Council has reported a further 12 cases of unlicensed STLs to the Procurator Fiscal which are pending.

Convener of the Regulatory Committee, Cllr Neil Ross, said: “Short term let regulation was introduced to help ensure holiday lets are safe and used appropriately. This conviction sends a clear message that operating without a licence is illegal. It also demonstrates that our enforcement team is effective and that a conviction will result in financial penalties.

“This isn’t action that we want to take. We always try to resolve issues through advice and guidance in the first instance and where this approach doesn’t work, we gather the information required to take enforcement action.

“This can result in reporting offences to the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal services, so I would urge all STL operators to make sure they have the right licence in place as we will continue to pursue all cases we have where necessary.”

As of March 2025 the Council received 5,441 Short Term Let licence applications, of which 4,654 have been granted.