Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee
The Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982 (Licensing of Short-term Lets) Order 2022
The Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982 (Licensing of Short-term Lets) Order 2022
Having listened attentively to the evidence given to the Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee on 14th December, from representatives supportive of the Scottish Governments proposal to license short-term lets, I am moved to respond to the Committee with some hard data and facts. The Panels antipathy, open hostility, bias and prejudice against short-term let operators was alarming and gives a clear indication that any claims of balance and proportionality are mere camouflage to their real intent.
I write from my home near Elgol on Skye. Following a family bereavement, we now let the two annexes to our family home to holiday makers. My background and personal experience mean I have taken a very close interest in the ongoing debates surrounding STL Licensing. I have over 35 years of experience in working for national and local government and have led partnerships to address rural deprivation across the full range of interconnected issues including education, training, children’s services, mental health, the digital divide, tourism, hospitality and housing. In all that time, I have rarely encountered a more ill-considered, data poor and illogical set of proposals than those under current consideration by the Committee.
Those of us who are legitimately operating self-catering and bed and breakfast micro-businesses have grown increasingly horrified by being characterised by some commentators, supported by the BRIA, as scaremongering, exaggerating, overestimating, protectionist of big business and criminally dishonest, with regard to both the consequences and the administrative and financial burdens of STL Licensing. The fact that on the 14th December the Committee Convenor chose to ask the panel “What would we need to do to manage down the levels of STLs?” confirms our suspicions and provides us with proof positive that the legislation is intent on decimating our lives and livelihoods. Even more astonishing was the response from the Policy Manager of the Association of Local Authority Chief Housing Officers who seems to believe that self-catering and bed and breakfasts are a new phenomenon and that, irrespective of basic human rights and ECHR law, “we simply now need to select those that can no longer operate.”
All this being said in the complete absence of any robust database by which this determination to “manage down” or “select” short-term lets can be achieved. The BRIA and consultation reports concede that there is no baseline data by which a Licensing scheme can be costed, implemented, monitored and evaluated, and planning for the introduction of STL Planning Control Areas undertaken. Apparently one purpose of the Licensing scheme is to establish this database, which begs multiple questions as to any commitment by the Scottish Government to balance the needs of communities with the contribution of STLs to the tourism industry. Rather, it appears to show that the Scottish Government is willing to risk the livelihoods of operators and their contribution to local economies on the basis that Licensing will achieve their objectives. The fact that they have no data to measure the achievement of objectives, the impact on the industry nor incidence of unintended consequences does not seem to have entered their thinking. The reverse of this could, however, be true. It may be that by not having an accurate and robust database in place prior to implementation of Licensing it will be impossible to assess how many current operators decide not to apply and cease trading, thereby enabling negation of any reasonable assessment of impact on the sector to be made. As there are now estimates of 12000 and 10000 STLs by the City of Edinburgh Council and Highland Council respectively, it seems logical to suggest that the numbers applying for licenses by April 2023 will need to be near those figures to demonstrate that Licensing is not deterring applications. Conversely, if the figures are below those estimates then, no doubt, the Local Authorities concerned may try to claim, with backing from the Scottish Government, that they have “managed down” the numbers in their region successfully. In other words, the current gaping hole in the data will have achieved the requisite smoke and mirrors of legislative scrutiny.
Refusal to consider alternative, less draconian proposals will validate operators’ belief that the Scottish Government is determined to devastate the sector and undermine the livelihoods of many thousands of individuals at a time when recovery from the pandemic means they can least afford it.
Unlike the main supporters of the legislation, I have researched and gained a detailed knowledge of the owner occupancy statistics in my home community. I grow weary at the loud voices of those who think they know what’s best for our isolated rural communities, without any thought being given to the complicated warp and weft of the consequences. Generally, we are quite capable of getting on with life with the minimum amount of interference from 'on high'. Elgol is often identified as a tourist hotspot and I am privileged to be able to continue to live here by supplementing my pension from holiday letting. The situation with regard to access to affordable homes for young people in Elgol is a serious concern but it is definitely not as bleak as the picture being painted by the more vociferous and anti-business and tourism proponents of STL Licensing. Moreover, the overheated housing market being the main issue, STL Licensing can’t and won’t exert any downward pressure on house prices in the short, medium or long term. Further, STL Licensing will not have any meaningful impact on current levels of second home ownership.
I am attaching a report and analysis of occupation and ownership of dwellings in Elgol, Glasnakille, Drinan, Kilmarie, Strathaird and Kirkibost. I can supply the anonymised data in an Excel spreadsheet if required. The key conclusion is that Licensing will have an adverse and, in some cases, catastrophic impact on twice as many local residents in the Elgol area as those owners who are non-resident. Those are the facts, supported by robust, up to date data. The Committee would do well to consider the implications of this when deliberating the Licensing Order. The facts in Elgol will be replicated in dozens of small communities across rural Scotland. Politicians should ignore them at their peril.
With regards,
Adrienne Carmichael