(Image: Newsquest)
Almost 70% of licensed short-term lets in Edinburgh are operating without planning permissions, new figures reveal.
An analysis of data obtained by Green councillor Chas Booth outlines the extent of the bottleneck.
A review carried out by Living Rent and Leith Harbour and Newhaven Community revealed that 1,225 (69.8%) of Edinburgh’s 1,754 licensed short-term lets (STLs) do not have secondary letting planning permission.
The study found that 465 licensed STLs (26.5%) applied for planning permission before subsequently withdrawing the application before a decision was made, while 425 (24.2%) have never applied for planning permission.
Furthermore, it found that 800 STLs (45.6%) have been refused planning permission, while 541 (30.8%) have been granted planning consent, either through an initial application or subsequent appeal.
Scottish Green councillor Chas Booth. (Image: Scottish Greens)
The analysis only covers secondary lets (the letting of a property that is not one’s residence). It does not count the number of people who let out rooms in their own home.
The data has been made public four years after City of Edinburgh Council introduced new rules stipulating that opening a short-term let “is a material change of use requiring planning permission”.
"Edinburgh's short term let control area was meant to ensure every STL in the city had planning permission,” said Councillor Booth.
“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,” the Green councillor added.
“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.”
However, responding to a parliamentary question from Green MSP Lorna Slater last month, SNP minister for public finance Hannah Mary Goodlad said that councils already have the power to refuse new licensing applications if planning controls have been breached.
She said: “Planning authorities at local authority level have powers under section 39 of the Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1997 to decline to determine any repeat application where similar applications have been previously refused, in order to try to close the loophole.”
Leith Harbour and Newhaven Community Council have commented on the figures.
Jon ‘Geo’ Camp, who carried out the review, said: "Our community council has heard from many residents concerned about short term lets, and this analysis shows why.
Hannah Mary Goodlad. (Image: PA)
“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,” Mr Camp went on to say.
“We will keep listening to our community, and keep working with councillors and MSPs to make sure these issues are heard and resolved."
Reacting to the data, council leader Jane Meagher said the local authority is to write to the Scottish Government to ask for help in tackling the backlog.
“Our short term let licensing policy is helping to make sure holiday lets are safe and properly regulated,” the Labour councillor remarked.
“We’re aware of the issue between licensing and planning, and our planning committee has agreed to write to the Scottish Government to seek solutions.
“We’ve also taken on an additional six full-time members of staff to make sure operators have a licence in place.”
The Herald understands that the council is currently conducting 117 investigations in relation to licenced STLs, as well as 212 active investigations into unlicensed STLs.
Read more:
- Scottish Government 'considering' calls to suspend action against illegal short lets
- Anger over 'draconian' licensing scheme as capital's short term let figures revealed
- Edinburgh Council facing wave of claims from short-term let owners
Furthermore, thirty-two cases comprising 52 offences related to STLs have been reported to the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service.
The Association of Scotland's Self-Caterers, who represent a number of short-term let operators in the city, has committed to working with Living Rent and the council to "develop a practical solution".
Chief executive Fiona Campbell said: “Living Rent is right that the system isn’t fit for purpose but labelling withdrawn applications as a ‘loophole’ is wrong.
"Operators who have invested time and money following the process are caught between two sets of rules – planning and licensing – that are conflated. We have repeatedly called for this underlying uncertainty to be resolved.
"Our sector wants to be regulated and we want the framework to work, but that takes certainty, clarity and consistency," Ms Campbell added.
"A new Use Class Order is how we get there, with fair arrangements for established businesses and a workable route to compliance.”