Short-Term Lets Stakeholder Working Group
Overview
The short-term lets stakeholder working group has been established to:
- assist the Scottish Government in the production of guidance for hosts and local authorities on the short-term lets licensing scheme and planning control areas;
- identify and resolve stakeholder issues and concerns; and
- make suggestions to the Scottish Government on any changes to legislation which may be needed.
Subject to the outcome of the election, this Government intends to re-lay the Licensing Order in June 2021, alongside draft guidance.
Developing the guidance
The working group will provide valuable input to the process of developing guidance that is comprehensive, helpful and easy to understand for those who will be administering schemes within local authorities, and for applicants and operators of short-term lets.
Members of the group are invited to use their knowledge and experience to provide both broad steers on the scope and style of the guidance as well as specific advice and assistance on the drafting of the guidance.
The Scottish Government will chair and provide secretariat support to the working group. Scottish Government officials will make every effort to find appropriate solutions to issues identified by stakeholders. Ownership of the guidance documents rests with the Scottish Government and the final decisions on the guidance and any changes to legislation rest with the Scottish Ministers.
Community Representation
The working group is principally comprised of industry and local authority representatives to get the guidance aimed at hosts and operators and local authorities right. This will help them navigate the planning and licensing processes. There are many aspects of the process that will be important to work through in detail with industry and local authority representatives that are not directly relevant to resident and community groups.
However, we know that certain parts of the process will be important to residents and communities, such as how to object to a planning or licensing application and how to raise issues around licensed (or unlicensed) properties.
We want to discuss these aspects with residents and community groups further and have arranged two identical meetings:
- Tuesday 9 March at 3 pm – 4.30 pm
- Thursday 11 March at 6 pm – 7.30 pm
Residents or community groups who wish to attend either of the meetings can book their place by emailing: shorttermlets@gov.scot
Subject to the outcome of the election, we intend to keep to the current timetable for implementing the licensing scheme. The Scottish Government remain committed to rolling out the licensing scheme fully by 1 April 2024. Local authorities will have until 1 April 2022 to establish a scheme tailored to their local needs and existing hosts and operators will have until 1 April 2023 to apply.
Meetings
The first meeting of the stakeholder working group was held on 18 February 2021.
Members
The working group is principally comprised of industry and local authority representatives to get the guidance aimed at hosts and operators and local authorities right:
- Andrew Mott, Scottish Government (Chair)
- Marie Lorimer, Airbnb
- Tony Cain, Association of Local Authority Housing Officers (ALACHO)
- Fiona Campbell, Association of Scotland’s Self-Caterers
- James Foice, Association of Serviced Apartment Providers
- Sarah Farnham, for Booking.com (Ketchum)
- Chris McKie, City of Edinburgh Council
- Laura Caven, COSLA
- Wayne Mackay, Electrical Safety First
- Jean-Philippe Monod, Expedia
- Barry McCulloch, Federation of Small Businesses
- Jo Millar, Gilson Gray
- David Littlejohn, Heads of Planning Scotland
- Alastair McKie, Law Society of Scotland
- Hazel Stevenson, Local Authority Environmental Health Officers
- Deborah Heather, Quality in Tourism
- Professor Russel Griggs, Independent Chair of the Scottish Government Regulatory Review Group
- David Weston, Scottish Bed & Breakfast Association
- Chris Getty, Scottish Fire and Rescue Service
- James Clark, Scottish Fire and Rescue Service
- Gavin Mowat, Scottish Land & Estates
- Marc Crothall, Scottish Tourism Alliance
- Gary Munro, Scottish Local Authority Lawyers and Administrators (SOLAR)
- Kimberley Langley, Scottish Local Authority Lawyers and Administrators (SOLAR)
- Willie Macleod, UK Hospitality
- Shomik Panda, UK Short-Term Accommodation Association
- Patrick O’Shaughnessy, Visit Scotland
Membership will be kept under review.
The Scottish Government is also engaging with community and residents’ groups.