Chamber and committees

The result of the division is: For 5, Against 2, Abstentions 0.

Motion agreed to,

That the Local Government, Planning and Housing Committee recommends that the Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982 (Licensing of Short-term Lets) Order 2022 be approved.

The question is, that motion S6M-02264 be agreed to. Are we all agreed?

Members: No.

There will be a division.

For

Burgess, Ariane (Highlands and Islands) (Green)
Coffey, Willie (Kilmarnock and Irvine Valley) (SNP)
Griffin, Mark (Central Scotland) (Lab)
McLennan, Paul (East Lothian) (SNP)
Whitham, Elena (Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley) (SNP)

Against

Briggs, Miles (Lothian) (Con)
Fraser, Murdo (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con)

I thank everyone for their contributions, and I thank the cabinet secretary for her thorough evidence in clearly setting out the Scottish Government’s intentions for the legislation.

Short-term lets have been with us for about 10 years. Although they make an important contribution to the tourism sector and provide an income stream for those who operate them, it has taken us that time to see the impact that they have on neighbours and communities.

Unregulated short-term lets have inadvertently begun shaping and negatively impacting rural and urban communities. We have heard how local people, public sector workers such as teachers and doctors and even those who work in the tourism sector struggle to find affordable housing in areas where short-term lets proliferate.

We have learned of a range of problems with the licensing regulations, such as the example of a building that was once a small cottage being transformed by the addition of extensions into a party house, bringing noise and making no contribution to local services. We have heard about criminality and the need for the fit and proper person element of the licensing scheme, and we heard last week about the challenges faced by Police Scotland and local authorities, as other members indicated.

We heard from Ailsa Raeburn that short-term lets are big business. The data shows that almost 40 per cent of owners in Scotland have more than three properties that are used for short-term lets, while 8 per cent have more than 100 properties.

We heard concerns about the burden that the licensing system will place on the providers of short-term lets. However, as we have heard through evidence, the cost will be proportionate and I trust our local authorities to come up with a process that is efficient and easy to use for licensing application and renewal.

The licensing order and the control areas regulations will work together to help us to ensure that local people who want to continue to live in their community, or public service workers who come to live in that community to provide much-needed services, can find a home there. I thank the cabinet secretary for indicating that we will have the opportunity in 2023 to review how the regulations and the order work and to revisit the possibility of overprovision regulations.

At a time when we recognise the importance of maintaining rural populations, focusing on place making and creating 20-minute neighbourhoods, we must use legislation to design a Scotland where people can live safely and be close to where they work. The Scottish statutory instruments that we are considering are part of the measures that we need to take to support our communities and to address the urgent need to provide local, affordable, adequate and accessible housing.

Item 3 is to take evidence as part of the committee’s work on short-term lets. This is the committee’s final evidence session on the order and the regulations. After taking evidence from the cabinet secretary, the committee will debate the motions recommending approval of the order and the regulations. I welcome Fergus Ewing, who is attending the meeting.

I also welcome Shona Robison, the Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice, Housing and Local Government; Andrew Mott, who is the head of the housing markets unit; and Rachel Nicholson, who is a lawyer in the housing and elections branch of the legal directorate in the Scottish Government. Thank you for joining us.

I invite the cabinet secretary to make a short opening statement.

Thank you for providing that clarity and the potential timeframe. We move to questions from Miles Briggs.

We will set out the results and the outcome of the debate in the committee’s report.

As agreed earlier, we will move into private to consider items 6, 7 and 8. I thank the cabinet secretary and her officials and close the public part of the meeting.

The question Is, that motion S6M-02265, in the name of Shona Robison, be agreed to. Are we all agreed?

Members: No.

Before I bring in Leon Thompson, I have a supplementary question about your comments on overprovision. What would we need to bring in to manage down the numbers in those areas?

I come to Leon Thomson. What are your views on the changes made to the draft licensing order from the version that was presented to our predecessor committee in February?