Rachael Hamilton MSP is urging all short term let and B&B owners across the Borders, to complete an online survey on licensing regulations by Friday 29th October.
The Scottish Government is proposing that from October 2022, all existing hosts will have until end of March 2024 to obtain a licence. They can continue operating in the meantime provided they successfully apply for a licence by April 2023.
The Scottish Government has told the Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee that it will be laying draft laws before the Scottish Parliament requiring local authorities to introduce a licensing system for short-term let accommodation.
The Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee wants to hear industry views about the suggested licensing scheme for short term lets. The Committee is particularly keen to hear about concerns about the proposals and to receive suggestions as to how these could be solved.
Back in August, representatives of the Association of Scotland’s Self-Caterers, the Scottish B&B Association, Airbnb and the UK Short Term Accommodation Association left the Scottish Government’s Working Group on Short Term Lets citing its inability to address concerns the industry has raised over proposed new measures.
The regulations offer no flexibility to local authorities where concerns over short-term lets are not an issue. The licensing order also proposes a number of mandatory conditions, including requirements for fire safety equipment, annual gas safety inspections and limits on maximum occupancy.
Mrs Hamilton believes that these regulations will hit rural Scotland hard, if not amended, with many related businesses and communities depending on the economic footfall generated by visitors to self-catering accommodation.
She wants Borders’ short term let owners to let their views known in the Committee survey.
Rachael Hamilton MSP said:
“I would strongly urge my constituents who run short term lets, B&Bs and holiday cottages to fill out this survey.
“The SNP Government’s proposals do not take into account the concerns of the Borders or rural Scotland, and as they stand, are not fit for purpose.
“When the ASSC surveyed members several months ago, they found that 92% of the industry consider the licensing scheme burdensome.
“They also found that over half of operators would remove their listing from holiday accommodation and close their business as a result.
“It is imperative that the SNP Government tackles the issues around a lack of housing in areas first, rather than pushing the blame onto our tourism industry, which has taken a hit during the pandemic”.