Council tax payers may have to fork out £1m because of a botched short lets policy

More than 100 short let or self catering operators have lodged formal complaints against Edinburgh council – and believe the authority may have to spend £1m on rectifying its errors.

Hefty planning application fees were imposed on the operators during the rollout of the council controversial short let licensing scheme in 2024.

For the operators combined the cost was some £300,000 but a recent Judicial Review at the Court of Session confirmed that businesses operating before September 5 2022 were not required to apply for planning permission or a certificate of lawfulness. 

The council has now had to revise its policy but the operators who unnecessarily paid application fees want refunds, and they believe that with additional complainants expected, the total compensation owed could surpass £1 million in unlawfully levied fees.

Ralph Averbuch, spokesperson for Justice for Scotland’s Self-Caterers, comments:

“Edinburgh Council’s recent actions have caused immense distress and in some cases loss of employment to self-catering operators that had historically been advised no action was required other than moving from council tax rolls to non-domestic rates. 

“Now that we have a new regime in place, it has never justified the retrospective hounding of those that traded prior to the introduction of STL Licensing and the opportunities the Council took to use this as a pretext for closing down a sector that accounts for well under 1% of all homes in the capital. 

“To be clear, this city needs self-catering to function and the Council’s lack of recognition of the wider impacts has already done great harm, adding cost to operators and visitors alike.”

And Fiona Campbell, chief executive of the Association of Scotland’s Self-Caterers (ASSC), adds: “It is deeply regrettable that the self-catering community must yet again challenge Edinburgh Council’s STL policies which amount to an ideologically driven de facto ban. 

“Despite being a professional and integral part of Edinburgh’s tourism economy, legitimate businesses continue to face an existential threat. The mishandling of STL regulations by the Scottish Government was evident from the outset. 

“We continuously warned that they were not fit for purpose and now we are seeing the consequences unfold. With the shambolic roll out of licensing across the country, it is only a matter of time before further compensation claims emerge throughout Scotland.”