Edinburgh's short-term lets control plan approved by ministers

Proposals aimed at limiting the number of Airbnb-style lets in Edinburgh have been approved by Scottish ministers.

The city council had asked for permission to establish the country's first short-term let control area.

This means that in most cases, planning permission will be needed to change the use of an entire residential home to short-term letting.

It follows concern that such lettings have exacerbated housing shortages and fuelled antisocial behaviour.

However, others have raised concerns about the impact the new rules could have on the availability of rented accommodation.

The City of Edinburgh Council has said the move will prevent short-term lets being set up where it is not appropriate.

Housing Secretary Shona Robison said government approval was a major step forward for the council's plans.

"I recognise the important role which short-term lets play as a source of flexible and responsive accommodation for tourists and workers, which brings many benefits to hosts, visitors and our economy," she said.

"However, we know that in certain areas, particularly tourist hot spots, high numbers of lets can cause problems for neighbours and make it harder for people to find homes to live in.

"The Scottish government considers that the council has adequately considered and responded to concerns raised before seeking approval of the control area designation. We have concluded that the proposed designation would be reasonable."

Council leader Cammy Day said the decision paved the way for Edinburgh to become the first short-term let control area in Scotland.

"For far too long, too many homes have been lost in our city to the holiday market," he said.

"In fact, around a third of all short term lets in Scotland are here in the capital, so their associated issues of safety, anti-social behaviour and noise have a detrimental effect on many of our residents.

"We will now progress implementing the changes and the next step should be looking at whether we can apply a cap on numbers, too."

Under the new scheme, planning permission will always be required to change the use of a dwelling house to secondary letting, unless the exceptions set out in legislation apply.

Where this happened before the introduction of the control area, the existing planning rules will apply.

The Scottish government said this would require planning permission if there has been a material change in the use of the property.

Renting out a room in your own home, or letting your home while on holiday, will still be allowed.

The proposals were approved by the council's planning committee earlier this year, after 88% of the 5,600 people who responded to a consultation on the proposals supported the introduction of the scheme.

However, the plans were described as "restrictive and anti-business" by the Association of Scotland's Self-Caterers, which said the city's real problem was a lack of house building.