South Lanarkshire Council is to introduce a licensing scheme for short-term let properties in the area.
At the Executive Committee meeting today (November 2), councillors heard of the plans to introduce new licensing terms for short-term lets such as Airbnbs.
The plans come as new Scottish Government legislation has placed the responsibility on local authorities to introduce a licensing scheme.
In March this year, the Scottish Government introduced a new Act which sets out new powers for local authorities to implement a licensing scheme for short-term lets with the aim of improving safety within the properties and mitigating any impact on communities.
The legislation was developed following residents’ concerns about the impact of short-term lets on their communities, including noise, anti-social behaviour and the impact on supply of housing in some areas.
The licensing scheme includes a new mandatory safety requirement that will cover every type of short-term let to ensure a safe, quality experience for visitors.
The council also has the discretion to apply further appropriate conditions to counter concerns.
According to the most recent research published by the Scottish Government in October 2019, there were 209 properties being advertised on Airbnb in South Lanarkshire as of May 2019.
There were 32,000 listings across Scotland with the majority of properties being advertised on Airbnb, and over half of those being in City of Edinburgh or Highland Council regions.
The timetable set out for implementing the licensing scheme will make it compulsory for all short-term lets to have a licence by July 1 2024.
In order to process and review licence applications, the council is proposing that one additional member of staff be employed to the team to deal with these applications.
Responses from councillors were mixed; some agreed with the plans to introduce the licensing scheme whilst others argued it could have a negative impact on the tourism industry.
Councillor Andrea Cowan (Rutherglen Central and North), questioned the information which would be made available to applicants.
She said: “The council has a statutory obligation to process these applications.
"For an existing host, 12 months and new host it is approximately nine months. I noticed that wasn’t advised in the scheme in the policy, but again that’s out with the council remit.
"But I would like to know how that information will be made available to applicants, so they know the council does have set timescales?”
Council officers stated that all additional details will be published on the council website along with the application forms so that hosts and operators are aware of the timescales.
Councillor Alex Allison (Clydesdale East), spoke against the new plans due to the possible impact on the tourism industry.
He said: “It’s disappointing that we’re having to do this, it is adding extra bureaucracy onto the tourist industry for no real benefit if any in our own area. It seems to be based on the premise that Edinburgh and the Western Isles need this so we’ve got to suffer equally.
“But there are a number of issues within this, the licensing division will be looking after the licensing of the premises but is there going to be a planning implication as well if someone is setting up one of these businesses, are there going to be policies drafted for that or does that not get included?
“And I’m not as convinced as how this is going to be policed and managed. Airbnb is an American company, yes we can send people out to the premises, but are we going to be throwing these people out?
"How can we manage this American company? It seems a lot to manage, we only have 209 Airbnbs in South Lanarkshire, it’s a ridiculously small number.
"I think we are definitely going to need the review in a year’s time, because it is not looking as if it is going to be beneficial to the tourism industry.”
Council officers stated that the council do not have the same scale of issues that other council areas have and all hosts and operators who wish to convert their Airbnb or short term let are to check with the planning department or building control if they wish to alter their property.
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