Hundreds of holiday lets operating without planning permission

Hundreds of holiday lets are operating without planning permission

New figures show that hundreds of holiday-let properties in Edinburgh are still operating even though planning permission has been refused.

Analysis by housing campaigners indicates that 800 of the city’s 1,754 entire homes licensed as short-term lets (STLs) have had planning applications turned down.

However, because they hold a licence, they can keep advertising the properties on sites such as Airbnb.

Campaigners want Edinburgh City Council to use its enforcement powers more often, including fining owners who do not have planning permission, while operators argue that the STL rules introduced in 2023 are not functioning properly.

City of Edinburgh Council said its licensing policy was helping ensure holiday lets were safe and properly regulated.

The new rules were brought in to address housing demand and anti-social behaviour, particularly in hotspots such as Edinburgh.

Anyone offering STL accommodation must have a licence or face a ban and a fine of up to £2,500.

Different licensing rules apply depending on whether a spare room or an entire property is being let on a permanent basis.

Any STLs that began operating after the city introduced a control zone in September 2022 must also have planning permission if the owner does not live in the property regularly.

The rules also state that some residential properties that had already become short-term lets before that date will need planning permission too.

Industry insiders say the reality is that every full house is now expected to have planning consent, and that most applications are refused.

Living Rent and Leith Harbour & Newhaven Community Council carried out an analysis of publicly available planning and licensing records.

It found that on 6 September this year, 1,754 entire flats or houses had the relevant licences.

The overwhelming majority — 1,225 properties — did not have planning permission. In some cases this was because no application had been made, while in others permission had been refused.

Among the properties with valid STL licences, 800 had been refused planning consent and had not later been granted permission on appeal.

Even so, these holiday lets can keep operating until their licence comes up for renewal, usually one to three years after it is issued.

Properties in residential tenements or in areas with a high concentration of short-term lets are among those being refused planning consent.

As with any breach of planning law, the council can take action against STL owners operating without permission, but enforcement is not automatic and is carried out on a “reasonable and proportionate” discretionary basis.

Applicants for a licence in Edinburgh must either already have the correct planning permission or be in the process of applying for it.

Campaigners say some owners are “gaming the system” by submitting planning applications while applying for a licence, then withdrawing the planning application once the licence is secured.

Living Rent’s analysis found that 465 of the licensed full-property STLs had withdrawn a planning application once, while 110 had withdrawn more than one application.

He said the council was not doing enough to enforce the planning and licensing system, and that the Scottish government’s legislation was not fit for purpose.

“There is a massive loophole in the law, which hundreds of STL owners are exploiting, and which is causing misery for residents,” he said.

“Scottish ministers need to wake up and smell the coffee. This legislation has a loophole as big as a barn door, and they need to take urgent action to close it.”

Niall Robb, from campaign group Living Rent, said the council needed to strengthen enforcement.

“For the majority of STLs to have insufficient planning permission demonstrates how landlords are taking advantage of weak legislation and a lack of enforcement to profit at the expense of tenants and neighbourhoods,” he said.

“Increasingly, communities are being undermined at the hands of holiday-let landlords who only care about profit.

“As a result of their actions, residents who keep the city ticking over every day are being forced out by sky high rents and a lack of homes.”

Leith resident Katie Beale has had several incidents involving guests staying in the STL in her stair.

“It’s the constant noise, the constant turnovers, strangers in the hallway,” she said.

“When you live here and you know your neighbours, you’ve all got your little routines and everyone’s very considerate of each other.

“But your stomach just drops when you hear the wheelie suitcases coming up the street.”

Beale said there had been occasions when guests ran up and down the hallways, pressed all the buzzers in the stair and threw things out of the window into the street.

She added: “We have had to call the police with noise complaints. I suppose I’m quite resilient but it does wear you down because it’s a constant turnover of new people. Who are you going to get is just a bit of pot luck.”

“We definitely welcome visitors to Edinburgh,” she added. “It’s just they need to be in the right places.”

Paul Phillips owns a holiday-let flat in Edinburgh city centre and is a non-executive director of trade body the Association of Scotland’s Self-Caterers (ASSC).

His is one of the 800 properties that has a licence but was refused planning permission by the council.

“I’m now in a position where the property is licensed, it’s running without causing any issues to my neighbours,” he said.

“But my expectation is at some point it will shut down when I have to reapply for my licence because I don’t have planning permission in place.

“This has already happened to many people within the city.”

Phillips estimated he had spent about £8,000 trying to secure all the relevant regulatory permissions for his business.

He said the current STL regulatory system was “very frustrating” for everyone involved.

He added: “It feels like an injustice to be honest.

“We have enough evidence now, both councils and operators, to understand what the problems are.

“I think it’s sensible to take a step back, tweak the regulations, make sure that businesses that run without any issue that have been running for many years continue to run and those that are problematic or unsafe aren’t allowed to run.”

It is understood that City of Edinburgh Council currently has 329 active STL enforcement investigations.

Of these, 117 relate to licensed STLs and the remaining 212 concern unlicensed properties.

, external was fined £600.

A total of 32 cases — involving 52 offences — related to STLs have been reported to Scotland’s prosecution service.

City of Edinburgh Council leader Jane Meagher said: “Our STL licensing policy is helping to make sure holiday lets are safe and properly regulated.

“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.”

Scotland’s minister for public finance, Hannah Mary Goodlad, was asked last month in Holyrood whether the law would be changed so that properties operating as short-term lets could not do so without planning permission.

She said: “Under existing licensing legislation, authorities may already refuse to consider a new licensing application if they believe that there has been a breach of planning control.

“Operating without planning permission, where required, is a breach of planning control. Planning authorities can already take enforcement action.”

She added: “Scotland can already take pride in assuring guests that short-term let accommodation across the country meets consistent safety standards.”