Plans are in place for local authorities to have the power to grant licences for short-term let and holiday let operators such as those found on Airbnb and also for councils to be able to designate ‘control zones’ where new businesses in the sector are not able to operate.
The legislation is due to be introduced next year, with councils gaining the powers in 2022.
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Hide AdHowever, the trade body for aparthotels and serviced apartments, where apartments in buildings are let out, but are cleaned and managed by one operator, said their section of the market should be considered more like hotels and guest houses than short-term lets.
In a joint letter to housing minister Kevin Stewart with the Scottish Tourism Alliance and the Association of Serviced Apartment Providers (ASAP), the trade body urged that aparthotels and managed serviced apartments are removed from the Scottish Government definition of a short-term let.
James Foice, chief executive at ASAP, said: “The definition of STL in the Scottish Government consultation fails to recognise that aparthotel/managed service apartments are a distinct operation compared with independently owned private flats/housing rentals being targeted by the Scottish Government.
“Scottish assessors class aparthotels/serviced apartments in the same manner as hotels for business rates and are yet to be further burdened by these unfair additional regulations.
“As we recover economically from Covid-19, it is high-quality operations such as these that will be to the fore in helping the tourism industry recover from the pandemic.”