London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Friday, Sep 19, 2025

New powers to crack down on Airbnb-style lets in Scotland

Councils are to be given new powers to tackle problems caused by the rapid growth of Airbnb-style holiday lets in many areas of Scotland.

The Scottish government said councils will be able to introduce licensing schemes for short-term lets from 2021.

These will allow local authorities to establish designated areas where planning permission is needed before properties can be rented out.

The scheme will also set safety requirements for all short-term lets.

And councils will be allowed to include further conditions to help tackle littering or overcrowding of properties.

The government also said it will review how short-term lets should be taxed in the future to ensure they make an "appropriate contribution to local communities and support local services".

The scheme would work alongside the government's plans to give councils the ability to introduce a so-called tourist tax in the future.

The move is in response to concerns from residents in some popular tourist destinations - particularly Edinburgh during the Festival - that the growth of short-term lets is pushing up rent levels for other properties, as well as increasing the amount of litter, noise and anti-social behaviour.

Research commissioned by the Scottish government found a three-fold increase in Scottish properties let for short-term use since 2016, with 32,000 recorded in May of last year.

More than 2,700 listings were recorded in Edinburgh, with the city's Old Town area found to have 812 active Airbnb listings per square kilometre - while on Skye, holiday lets accounted for nearly 20% of all homes on the island.

A majority of the more than 1,000 respondents to a Scottish government consultation on the issue backed the introduction of reforms, but they were divided over what should be done.

Local government minister Kevin Stewart told the Scottish Parliament that short-term lets can offer people a flexible travel option and have "contributed positively to Scotland's tourism industry and local economies across the country".

He added: "However, we know that in certain areas, particularly tourist hot spots, high numbers of short-term lets are causing problems and often make it harder for people to find homes to live in.

"That is why we are empowering local authorities to implement a system that works for their area."


What has the reaction been?

The announcement was welcomed by Adam McVey, leader of the City of Edinburgh Council, who said it would give the local authority the control it needs over short-term lets.

He added: "It meets our request for mandatory licences and we will now be in a position to more effectively implement planning controls to stop this increase.

"A review of taxation in this area will also make sure that businesses are paying properly for income they're receiving and local services they're using."

Scottish Greens MSP Andy Wightman, who has been campaigning for the rules around holiday lets to change, said the announcement was long overdue, but would be welcomed by communities that have been adversely affected by short-term lets.

He added: "It's clear that no licenses should be issued unless proper planning consent is in place, and I am disappointed that the Scottish government don't seem to share that view."

The Scottish Conservatives said they agreed that regulation was needed - but said the government had given "next to no details on how this might work".


What about Airbnb?

Airbnb said it had yet to see the details of the Scottish government's announcement, but would be seeking clarity on areas including the financial cost of licensing and how taxation of short-term lets would operate alongside existing proposals for tourism taxation.

A spokesman said: "We have long supported calls for fair regulations and a tourism tax in Scotland. Now we want to work with the Scottish government and local authorities on clear and simple guidance for hosts.

"Together we can help Scottish families share their homes and follow the rules, and avoid a system that excludes working families through fees, barriers and bureaucracy. Our platform is an economic lifeline for countless local families and travel on Airbnb boosts the Scottish economy by almost £2m a day."

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Massive Strikes in France Pressure Macron and New PM on Austerity Proposals
Trump Seeks Supreme Court Permission to Remove Fed Governor Lisa Cook
Hillary Clinton’s Reckless Rhetoric Fuels Division After Charlie Kirk’s Assassination
NASDAQ Rises to Record as Intel Soars More Than 20%, Nvidia Gains 3%
Nvidia’s $5 Billion Bet on Intel Reshapes AI Hardware Landscape
Trump and Starmer Clash Over UK Recognition of Palestinian State Amid State Visit
Trump’s Quip on Biden and Google Lawsuit Revives Debate Over Antitrust Legacy
Macron and his wife to provide 'scientific photographic evidence' that she is a real woman
US Tech Giants Pledge Billions to UK AI Infrastructure Following Starmer's Call
Saudi Arabia cracks down on music ‘lounges’ after conservative backlash
DeepMind and OpenAI Achieve Gold at ‘Coding Olympics’ in AI Milestone
SEC Allows Public Companies to Block Investors from Class-Action Lawsuits
Saudi Arabia Signs ‘Strategic Mutual Defence’ Pact with Pakistan, Marking First Arab State to Gain Indirect Access to Nuclear Strike Capabilities in the Region
Federal Reserve Cuts Rates by Quarter Point and Signals More to Come
Effective and Impressive Generation Z Protest: Images from the Riots in Nepal
European manufacturers against ban on polluting cars: "The industry may collapse"
Sam Altman sells the 'Wedding Estate' in Hawaii for 49 million dollars
Trump: Cancel quarterly company reports and settle for reporting once every six months
Turkish car manufacturer Togg Enters German Market with 5-Star Electric Sedan and SUV to Challenge European EV Brands
US Launches New Pilot Program to Accelerate eVTOL Air Taxi Deployment
Christian Brueckner Released from German Prison after Serving Unrelated Sentence
World’s Longest Direct Flight China Eastern to Launch 29-Hour Shanghai–Buenos Aires Direct Flight via Auckland in December
New OpenAI Study Finds Majority of ChatGPT Use Is Personal, Not Professional
Hong Kong Industry Group Calls for HK$20 Billion Support Fund to Ease Property Market Stress
Joe Biden’s Post-Presidency Speaking Fees Face Weak Demand amid Corporate Reluctance
Charlie Kirk's murder will break the left's hateful cancel tactics
Kash Patel erupts at ‘buffoon’ Sen. Adam Schiff over Russiagate: ‘You are the biggest fraud’
Homeland Security says Emmy speech ‘fanning the flames of hatred’ after Einbinder’s ‘F— ICE’ remark
Charlie Kirk’s Alleged Assassin Tyler Robinson Faces Death Penalty as Charges Formally Announced
Actor, director, environmentalist Robert Redford dies at 89
The conservative right spreads westward: a huge achievement for 'Alternative for Germany' in local elections
JD Vance Says There Is “No Unity” with Those Who Celebrate Charlie Kirk’s Killing, and he is right!
Trump sues the 'New York Times' for an astronomical sum of 15 billion dollars
Florida Hospital Welcomes Its Largest-Ever Baby: Annan, Nearly Fourteen Pounds at Birth
U.S. and Britain Poised to Finalize Over $10 Billion in High-Tech, Nuclear and Defense Deals During Trump State Visit
China Finds Nvidia Violated Antitrust Laws in Mellanox Deal, Deepens Trade Tensions with US
US Air Force Begins Modifications on Qatar-Donated Jet Amid Plans to Use It as Air Force One
Pope Leo Warns of Societal Crisis Over Mega-CEO Pay, Citing Tesla’s Proposed Trillion-Dollar Package
Poland Green-Lights NATO Deployment in Response to Major Russian Drone Incursion
Elon Musk Retakes Lead as World’s Richest After Brief Ellison Surge
U.S. and China Agree on Framework to Shift TikTok to American Ownership
London Daily Podcast: London Massive Pro Democracy Rally, Musk Support, UK Economic Data and Premier League Results Mark Eventful Weekend
This Week in AI: Meta’s Superintelligence Push, xAI’s Ten Billion-Dollar Raise, Genesis AI’s Robotics Ambitions, Microsoft Restructuring, Amazon’s Million-Robot Milestone, and Google’s AlphaGenome Update
Le Pen Tightens the Pressure on Macron as France Edges Toward Political Breakdown
Musk calls for new UK government at huge pro-democracy rally in London, but Britons have been brainwashed to obey instead of fighting for their human rights
Elon Musk responds to post calling for the murder of Erika Kirk, widow of Charlie Kirk: 'Either we fight back or they will kill us'
Czech Republic signs €1.34 billion contract for Leopard 2A8 main battle tanks with delivery from 2028
USA: Office Depot Employees Refused to Print Poster in Memory of Charlie Kirk – and Were Fired
Proposed U.S. Bill Would Allow Civil Suits Against Judges Who Release Repeat Violent Offenders
Penske Media Sues Google Over “AI Overviews,” Claiming It Uses Journalism Without Consent and Destroys Traffic
×