A new report has found that Edinburgh’s economy could lose £57m if short-term lets are further reduced —despite the sector making up less than 1% of housing in the city.
Two years ago, Edinburgh Council introduced a scheme requiring short-term let owners to apply for planning permission to regulate the industry.
Campaigners are now warning of a potential “crisis in Scottish tourism” which will cost jobs and won’t alleviate Edinburgh’s housing pressures.
According to analysis from Edinburgh-based consultancy BiGGAR economics, the self-catering sector is estimated to contribute around £154m to the city’s economy and support around 5,580 jobs in 2023.
The report, jointly commissioned by Justice for Scotland’s Self-Catering (JfSCC) and STL Solutions, examined the economic and fiscal impacts of STLs in the city, their impact on business and tourism, and their effect on housing supply.
Victoria Leask owns a cleaning company in Edinburgh primarily working with short-terms lets, and says her business has already taken a hit.
STV NewsThe owner of Chrome Cleaning said: “We’ve lost a lot of clients due to them being not approved their license and it’s very worrying.
“We’ve went from having 15 jobs in the diary to maybe three to five a day, so that’s quite a large number to lose in clients.
“I’ve got an office, seven members of staff and a linen hire company so there’s a lot at stake here.”
Iain Muirhead rents out five properties in the city on a short-term basis and has had all of his licenses approved. But he still fears for the future of his business.
Iain said: “I think the issue is actually the planning permission aspect of licensing.
“I think the licensing itself I support, a lot of that is to do with health and safety which everyone can understand and I’m fully behind that but I think what has happened is, it’s been used as a kind of tool to shut down many short term lets to serve different agendas around the housing shortages.”
A recent study found that while short-term lets make up less than 1% of housing in Edinburgh – last year the sector generated over £150m towards the city’s economy and supported over 5,000 jobs.
The report found that a decrease in 0.5% in the number of secondary let properties would cost Edinburgh’s economy £57m.
It also showed that empty homes in the city account for four times the number of secondary lets, at 4%.
STV NewsFiona Campbell, CEO of Association of Scotland’s Self-Caterers said: “I think it’s very clear now what economic value we provide to the Edinburgh economy and if data isn’t used when making policy decisions then we have a fundamental problem.
“We hope that this report will inform future policy making and that Edinburgh council will understand the huge damage.
Edinburgh City Council is considering feedback from a public survey on short-term lets and says it will report its findings later this year.
Council leader Cammy Day said: “I continue to firmly believe that everyone benefits from Edinburgh’s thriving visitor economy, but it has to be managed, and it has to be sustainable – and that our short-term let controls have been an important step in the right direction.
“Scottish Government planning policy requires that when determining short term let planning applications we look at the loss of a property as a home and weigh that against local economic benefits. Like all planning applications we consider each case individually.
“This report looks at the short-term let industry through a very narrow lens. Given the recognised need and demand for housing in Edinburgh it is important to retain residential properties as homes for citizens to live in as part of local communities contributing to all sectors of the economy not just the hospitality industry.
“In terms of licensing, our new regulations have been in place for a year now and early signs are promising that they are helping to keep visitor accommodation safe and well managed in Edinburgh. We’ve always said though that it is important to monitor their impact and so we recently asked businesses and visitors how they’ve found the changes.
“We’re considering all of the feedback we received and we’ll report back to the Regulatory Committee later this year.”
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