Short Term Lets Licence and fees for tourism businesses set out by Comhairle nan Eilean Siar

Legislation introduced by Scottish Government at the start of the year will require those renting out accommodation for short term lets to register their business with their Local Authority.
The legislation covers both those who rent out separate properties, and those who rent out part of their own home, so will cover traditional self catering as well as guest houses and B&Bs.
The Comhairle must have its new licensing scheme established by October of this year, and hosts will have until April 2023 to apply for a licence. The Comhairle must consider an application for a short term let licence within a period of six months of receiving the application, and determine the licence within 12 months.
Any short-term let licence granted by the Comhairle will be subject to mandatory conditions, which primarily cover safety, including overcrowding.
The Comhairle has been granted powers to charge fees for licence applications and monitoring, and to limit the number of accommodation lets operating in designated areas. The draft documents pertaining to the scheme set out a preferred ‘light touch approach, which will be reflected in lower licensing fees’. The draft fee scale ranges from £66 to £133 per annum, depending on the type of property and the number of guests.
Designated control zones have not been introduced at this stage, but the Comhairle has not ruled out that option, stating it will utilise the licensing scheme information to set baseline data to help identify and monitor any problem areas if considering future control zones.
The Comhairle estimates there are between 770 and 950 short term lets operating in the Western Isles, made up of 700 to 800 secondary letting premises and 70 to 100 B&Bs and guest houses, but recognises that the numbers may be higher than the available data suggests.
Outer Hebrides Tourism last ran a full visitor survey before the pandemic, when annual visitor numbers stood at 219,000, with an estimated £65m coming into the Western Isles, a quarter of which relates to Uist. The current total income is now expected to be well over £70million.
A Comhairle spokesperson said “Short-term lets are an important part of the tourism sector as well as providing vital accommodation for workers coming to the islands.”
The new Scheme has not gone down well with Tourism bodies. Sarah Maclean, CEO of Outer Hebrides Tourism, shared her concerns with Am Pàipear: “We are aware of the problems caused by unregulated lets in some mainland areas but we’re very clear that Short Term Lets Licensing is not right for the islands. Scottish Government is using a sledgehammer to break a nut. But with the legislation now in place we are focused on supporting our members to navigate its roll-out as best we can.”
Ms Maclean continued: “Tourism accounts for 10-15% of all economic activity on the islands and the proportion is higher in rural areas like Uist, where there are hundreds of small businesses relying on the additional income that short term lets bring. We recognise there are infrastructure issues but we believe this is not the way to resolve them.”
The Comhairle public consultation on the short term lets issue generated 230 responses, 70% of whom were host operators. Feedback is still being collated but the published comments included a wide range of views.