Hundreds of holiday lets operating without planning permission

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Analysis from housing campaigners suggests that 800 of the 1,754 entire homes in the city which are licensed short-term lets (STLs) have had planning applications refused.

But because they have a licence they can continue advertising the properties through websites such as Airbnb.

Campaigners are calling for Edinburgh City Council to make more use of its enforcement powers, which include fining owners who do not have planning permission, while operators say STL laws introduced in 2023 are not working properly.

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

The new laws were introduced to help tackle problems with housing demand and anti-social behaviour, especially in hot spots such as Edinburgh.

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

There are different licensing requirements depending on whether you are letting out a spare room or an entire property on a permanent basis.

Any STLs which started 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 on a regular basis.

The rules say that planning permission will also be needed for some residential properties which had already changed to a short-term let before that date.

Insiders from the industry claim the reality is that every full house is now expected to have planning consent – and that the majority of applications are rejected.

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

This showed that on 6 September this year a total of 1,754 entire flats or houses had the relevant licenses.

The vast majority – 1,225 properties – did not have planning permission. This was either because they had not applied (in some cases it was not required) or it had been refused.

Of those properties with valid STL licences, 800 had been refused planning consent and not subsequently been granted it on appeal.

Despite this, these holiday lets can continue to operate until their licence is due for renewal, typically between one and three years after being issued.

Properties in residential tenements or located in areas of high concentration of short-term lets are among those being rejected for planning consent.

As with all breaches of planning laws, the council has the power to take action against STL owners operating without permission – but enforcement is not automatic and is carried out on a "reasonable and proportionate" discretionary basis.

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

Campaigners claim some owners are "gaming the system" by submitting planning applications while applying for their licence but then withdrawing the planning application after the licence is secured.

Living Rent's analysis shows 465 of the licensed full property STLs have withdrawn a planning application once, with 110 having withdrawn more than one application.

Chas Booth is a Scottish Green Party councillor in Leith who sits on both the licensing and planning committees.

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, of campaign group Living Rent, said the council needed to step up its 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 multiple incidents with 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 instances of guests running up and down the hallways, pressing all the buzzers in the stair and throwing things out the window onto 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 which has a licence but was denied 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."

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

He said the current STL regulatory system was "very frustrating" for all interested parties.

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 the City of Edinburgh Council currently has 329 active STL enforcement investigations.

Of these, 117 relate to licensed STLs and the remaining 212 are for unlicensed properties. Last year the first owner convicted of running an unlicensed STL in the city was fined £600.

A total of 32 cases – comprising 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 last month asked in Holyrood if the legislation would be changed to ensure 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."