Scottish FHL Owners - Urgent Attention Required

Agencies and other headaches, keys and cleaners, running costs and contracts...in short, all the things we spend so much of our time doing behind the scenes.<br>
Kilm
Posts: 44
Joined: Mon Jul 24, 2017 4:23 pm

Scottish FHL Owners - Urgent Attention Required

Post by Kilm »

Hi folks. If you own an FHL and live in Scotland, hopefully you're aware of the moves by the Scottish Government to churn some money out of FHLs under the guise of tightening controls.

I have no issues with a license to operate, price depending, but I do have issues with the idea that a guest on holiday, in my house, could be interrupted by council officers turning up to inspect the house unannounced. If you have any concerns, raise them with your MSP now. This is not yet enacted, but it is currently on route to be.

From Awaze:

"Good evening.

I am writing to give you an update on the short-term let licensing regulations in Scotland, for which legislation has been laid before Scottish Parliament. Scottish MSPs will vote on the enactment of the legislation in the coming weeks. Under the proposed legislation, all local authorities will be required to establish a short-term lets licensing scheme by October 2022. Existing owners will have until 1 April 2023 to apply for a licence for each property that they operate as a short-term let. All short-term lets in Scotland will have to be licensed by 1 July 2024. You can find out more here.

In collaboration with the Association of Scotland’s Self Caterers (ASSC), Awaze has been lobbying the Scottish government on your behalf. Our goal has been to ensure that any licensing scheme introduced is fair, proportionate, simple and one that works for our industry. We, along with the ASSC, have proposed a straightforward registration scheme with health and safety provisions.

Despite our efforts, the Scottish government is pushing ahead with much more onerous licensing scheme. If enacted, this legislation will affect you in a number of ways:


Cost - You will have to pay for a license per property you own. Each council has discretion as to the cost it can charge. The government has indicated that this will likely be in the region of £233 to £377 for a two bedroomed property, although the ASSC has been told by various sources that it is more likely to be in the region of £1500 to £2000 in line with HMO licensing, and local authorities are encouraged to apply higher fees for larger premises. To date, the government has not provided clarity on fees, nor a promise of a fee cap. In our lobbying efforts, we have pushed the government to try to ensure that these costs are kept to a minimum, and are not used as a profit making measure.

Renewal - You will need to renew your license every 36 months. In our response to the consultation that was launched by the Scottish government, we and the ASSC argued that the process should operate on the assumption that a licensing application is renewed through self-certification, like the Scottish Landlord Register.

Neighbourhood objections - The license application will take into account the views and objections of neighbours, and will ultimately be decided subjectively by the local authority. We and the ASSC feel that “NIMBYism” may affect many applications and therefore argue that all neighbourhood concerns over short-term lets should go through the existing system through better enforcement of anti-social behaviour legislation, as well as the use of noise monitoring devices.

Inspections - Council officers will be permitted to turn up unannounced at a licensed property. We and the ASSC argue that this should be by appointment only at a time when guests are not in occupation. "
User avatar
Nemo
Posts: 7062
Joined: Thu Aug 14, 2008 10:15 am
Location: Norfolk

Post by Nemo »

Very interesting thanks Kilm. Where Scotland leads, the rest may follow, so we ignore what happens at our peril.
Post Reply