Short-Term Let Control Areas: Extent and Effects

At present, there are only two Short-Term Let Control Areas (STLCAs) in Scotland. These comprise the whole of Edinburgh (confirmed 05.09.2022) and the ward of Badenoch and Strathspey in the Highland Council area (confirmed 04.03.2024). Various other local authorities continue to consider whether to declare control areas, or whether to significantly widen existing ones.

What is an STLCA?

Planning Circular 01/2023 provides an overview of the confirmation process, but in general:

The power to confirm a short-term let control area is vested in Section 26B of the Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1997, which holds that:

"In a short-term let control area, the use of a dwellinghouse for the purpose of providing short-term lets is deemed to involve a material change of use of the dwellinghouse."

The provisions do not apply to short-term tenancies where the dwellinghouse is the only or principal home of the landlord or occupier (i.e., home-lets and home-shares).

The Practical Effect

The effect of a STLCA is to create a deemed (automatic) need for planning permission for short-term letting use, other than where the property is let on a home-let or home-share basis.

Critically, this automatic requirement only applies to uses starting after the confirmation of the STLCA. Uses instituted prior to confirmation do not invoke Section 26B, as established in Muirhead [2023] CSOH 86.

Pre-Existing Uses

For uses pre-dating the control area, whether or not planning permission is required remains a matter of fact and degree, with assessment encompassing different considerations as outlined in Cameron [2020] CSIH 6.

The Licensing Connection

Licensing conditions (for example, Mandatory Condition 13) mandate that a planning permission application must be in place before any issued licence can be lawfully used. Where a property requires planning permission, obtaining a licence without it may not be possible.

Important Warning

Being "exempted" from a control area's effect does not alter the underlying position that a material change of use requires planning permission. There may be no automatic requirement under Section 26B, but a need may still exist under Section 26(1) of the 1997 Act.

Given the complexities surrounding the interaction between planning, licensing and STLCAs, STL Solutions recommends that any operator trading in an area which is — or could become — a control area seek expert advice.