Good landlords will be rewarded with lower long term costs under a new licensing scheme for operators of short term lets.
East Lothian Council's licensing chiefs have approved a new policy requiring operators of Airbnb's, holiday homes and other short term lets to be licensed from October 1 this year.
But while all of around 300 operators believed to be in East Lothian will initially receive a one-year licence, it is anticipated those who do well will only have to reapply every three years.
A meeting of the council's licensing sub-committee earlier today heard concerns from councillors that the licence requirement and costs could lead to a loss of tourist accommodation in the county.
Councillor John McMillan said he was concerned about losing operators because of the costs.
He was backed by committee convenor Councillor Colin McGinn, who said: "I am concerned we have 300 providers and do not want to lose any of them."
The committee legal adviser told the committee there would be scope to reward "good landlords" as the policy becomes established.
He said: "There are opportunities to review fees for good landlords.
"On day one we will not know who are good landlords and who are not so we are looking at initially issuing licences for one year and then extending it by one, two or three years, to benefit those who are operating well."
The cost of the licence proposed would be in line with current fees for Houses of Multiple Occupancy licences which cost between £500 to £1500, depending on the number of tenants.
The committee was told that the fees were set to ensure the licences were self funding and did not incur costs to the council's main budget.
However Mr McMillan called for further investigations into the fees to be carried out, including consulting with other local authorities, before a decision is made on the charges.
The committee was told the licences were being introduced as part of Scottish Government policy.
The committee agreed to implement the licence policy and deferred a decision on fees for more information to be presented to members.
