Victory! SNP forced into U-turn over plans to tax holiday homes and B&Bs
TOURISM leaders have vowed to continue to fight the SNP’s short-term let licensing scheme after it was paused following pressure from The Scottish Mail on Sunday.
Housing Minister Shona Robison last week bowed to mounting pressure by announcing a six-month delay to its implementation, after our revelations about the devastating impact of the project.
Anyone with a short-term rental property – from a castle or house to a single room or yurt – had until April next year to apply to their local authority for a licence.
The strict rules were designed to tackle the uncontrolled growth of Airbnb-style rentals in tourist hotspots such as Edinburgh.
‘More than two-thirds are considering leaving the sector’
However, it emerged property owners across Scotland would be hit with bills for hundreds or even thousands of pounds, as well as a raft of ‘onerous’ extra conditions predicted, to drive up costs for holidaymakers and business travellers.
The deadline to apply has now been moved to October 31. However, last night there were calls for a rethink of the legislation, which faces a possible legal challenge amid claims it could kill off small businesses and pose a threat to Edinburgh’s festivals.
The Association of Scotland’s Self Caterers (ASSC), which represents more than 1,300 members, called on the Scottish Government to ‘use this time to reconsider their scheme to avoid disastrous unintended consequences for the tourism industry, particularly for the hosting of large-scale events’.
Chief executive Fiona Campbell added: ‘The ASSC would like to thank The Scottish Mail on Sunday for their terrific reporting that shines a light on the concerns of self-caterers and B&Bs from this onerous and ill-thought out licensing scheme.
‘The £867 million self-catering sector wants to get back to what it does best but the spectre of licensing still hangs over us, not to mention planning restrictions – more than two-thirds of operators are considering leaving the sector.
‘The ASSC has been pressing hard for a pause to the implementation due to the cost of living crisis so it’s good to know our voices are being heard.’
Mrs Campbell had described the scheme as ‘the worst thing to hit Scotland’s self-catering and B&B sector since Covid struck’.
In an ASSC survey of members, 66 per cent said they are considering leaving the sector, while nearly half were experiencing mental health issues due to stress about the viability of their business.
David Weston, chairman of the Scottish B&B Association, said: ‘We welcome the six-month pause – we would have liked longer and in a perfect world we would have liked the whole thing rethought.
‘There have been so many issues of inconsistency between local authorities, we think they needed more time to iron those things out – for the Scottish Government to give clearer guidance and to allow small business more time to adapt to what’s needed.
‘A lot of people who are running small B&Bs and tourist-type accommodation are not 100 per cent commercial. A small thing can tip them over to stop and we are finding, anecdotally, a lot of members now saying, “We’re closing”.’
Mrs Robison said the Government’s climbdown was due to the ‘wider economic circumstances of the cost of living crisis’ and added: ‘We intend to lay an affirmative Scottish Statutory Instrument in January that will seek to amend The Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982 (Licensing of Short-term Lets) Order 2022.’
The reprieve only applies to existing operators with new hosts still required to obtain a licence before they can accept bookings.
Property owner Ralph Averbush, has warned the rules would decimate accommodation in the capital and could force him and many others out of business.
He said: ‘My deepest fear is this delay will be kicking the can down the road and that the underlying issues created by the legislation fail to be addressed.’