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Background
The Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982 (Licensing of Short-term Lets) Order 2022 (the “2022 Order”) was approved by the Scottish Parliament on 19 January 2022 and came into force on 1 March 2022. Use of accommodation for a short-term let is an activity for which a Licence is now required under the “1982 Act”. The 2022 Order requires East Dunbartonshire Council to have a short-term let licensing scheme in place by 1 October 2022.
Existing hosts will have until 1 April 2023 to apply for a licence. The final deadline for all hosts and operators to have a licence is 1 July 2024.
East Dunbartonshire Council’s Draft Short-Term Lets Policy focuses on ensuring that an efficient, effective and proportionate licensing scheme is in place, which is customised to the needs and circumstances of the Council’s local area and supports applicants who wish to obtain a short-term let licence. The Short-Term Lets Policy describes how the Council will manage the licensing scheme, including setting out applicable fees, types of Licence, conditions, complaints and enforcement procedures.
A working group of Council staff developed a Draft Policy and related forms that were presented to the Policy & Resources Committee on 14 June 2022 (PNCA/032/22/LR). Following approval by the Committee, a 4-week consultation was carried out from Monday 20th June until Monday 18th July on the Draft Policy.
Methodology
The consultation was delivered via an online questionnaire and publicised through the Council’s website and social media platforms. The following questions were put to residents of East Dunbartonshire Council or any other interested party:
- Do you consent to being contacted about this consultation?
- Which if the following apply to you?
- Do you agree with the Licence costs proposed?
- What do you feel is a suitable Licence cost?
- Should the Council adopt additional conditions?
- Which issues should the conditions cover?
- Should children under the age of 10 years count towards the occupancy?
- Should temporary licences be introduced?
- Should there be additional conditions for temporary licences?
- What additional conditions should be attached?
During the consultation period, 23 responses were received from people that provided their views and used the opportunity to give additional comments. The Feedback provided has been analysed and used to develop the Draft Policy further. However, the Council will also determine the content of the Policy in line with Guidance issued by the Scottish Government and will benchmark against other local authorities prior to making policy decisions in order to produce an overall East Dunbartonshire context.
The working group will return to the Policy and Resources Committee with a finalised Short-Term Lets Licencing Policy for approval on 25th August 2022.
The key findings below set out the opinions of participants for consideration by the working group.
Key Findings
Question 1
Participants were asked if they consented to being contacted in relation to the consultation to discuss their views. Chart 1 below illustrates the ratio between yes, I agree at 56.52% and no I disagree (43.48%) a slightly greater number of people would like to discuss the draft policy further.
CHART 1: Do you consent to being contacted about this consultation:
Question 2
Respondents were then asked to identify their interest in the consultation; either as an operator/host of a short-term let or, as an individual who lives and works in East Dunbartonshire or, any other interest, for example, an organisation. Participants could make multiple selections for Q2 and therefore may fit into more than one category. Table 1 below sets out the percentage of respondents who fall into each:
TABLE 1: Which of the following Apply to you?
| Respondent | Percentage |
|---|---|
| Short-term let operator | 56.52% |
| Short-term let customer | 8.7% |
| Short-term let neighbour | 0% |
| Live in east Dunbartonshire | 52.17% |
| Visitor to east Dunbartonshire | 0% |
| Work in east Dunbartonshire | 8.7% |
| Other | 17.39 |
A greater number of respondents (56.52%) are short-term let operators with 52.17% of people stating that they live in East Dunbartonshire. Of the 13 people that said they live in East Dunbartonshire 8 are also short-term let operators (61.53%). The category ‘Other’ would apply to a corporate entity for example, a company, partnership, Trust or charity.
Question 3
Asked whether participants agreed with the proposed costs. Chart 2 below illustrates that 26.09% agreed with proposed costs compared to 73.91% who disagree:
Participants were then asked a secondary question, ‘please provide a reason if you disagree’? The main reasons given for disagreeing with the proposed costs were; fees are too high, as are costs for additional number of rooms. Other comments received for Q3 indicate that respondents felt the high cost of fees and other additional costs would have a negative financial impact on their income and could deter them from continuing to offer short-term letting in the future.
In relation to individual income, the costs proposed by the Council are intended only to cover administrative costs incurred to the Council. New applications and renewal applications have to be considered in terms of the time and resource required to administer the Scheme. The Housing in Multiple Occupation licence scheme (HMO) has been used as a maximum gauge to determine the proposed costs for short term letting in East Dunbartonshire.
Question 4
Respondents were asked what they felt was a suitable licence cost. No example model was provided and people have made their own suggestions for what they felt is a reasonable scale of fees. 7 out of the 23 participants responded with various cost suggestions as outlined in Table 2 below:
TABLE 2: Suggestions received in relation to proposed Licence costs:
|
Suggested cost (£) |
Number of respondents |
Percentage (%) |
|---|---|---|
|
£100-150 |
6 |
35.29% |
|
£250-450 |
3 |
17.65% |
|
£200 |
1 |
5.88% |
|
£50-60 |
2 |
11.76% |
|
£1 |
1 |
5.88% |
|
£0 |
3 |
17.65% |
|
£1000 |
1 |
5.88% |
Question 5
Considers whether the Council should adopt additional conditions as part of issuing a Short-Term Let Licence, responses are set out in Chart 3 below that shows 47.83% agree to additional conditions compared to 52.17% who do not:
Chart 3: Should the Council Adopt Additional Conditions:
Question 6
Participants were given eight examples of potential conditions that could apply to a licence if issued as shown in Chart 4 below. The four most common issues selected by respondents are antisocial behaviour and unlawful activity which both received 60.87% and noise and failure to maintain/contribute to communal repairs at 52.17%.
CHART 4: Which issues should the conditions cover:
Question 7
‘Should Children under the age of ten count towards the occupancy’.
Respondents were of the opinion that children under ten years of age should not count towards occupancy (69.57%) compared to 30.43% who felt that children under ten years of age should count towards occupancy.
Question 8
Scottish Government Guidance allows the Council to introduce temporary short-term let licences. It should be noted that there is no difference in cost associated with a full licence compared to a temporary licence both will be charged at the same rate. Respondents were asked their opinion on whether or not temporary licences should be introduced in East Dunbartonshire. Chart 5 illustrates a marginal difference in opinion:
CHART 5: Should Temporary Licences be Introduced:
Question 9
Asks whether additional conditions should apply to temporary licences. People were given eight examples that were also contained in question six in relation to a full licence for short-term letting. 21.74% of respondents (5) thought that yes, conditions should apply compared to 17 (73.91%) who disagreed that temporary licences should have conditions attached.
Question 10
Asked participants what additional conditions, if any, should apply to temporary licences. Although a greater number of responses shown in Chart 5 indicate a general feeling towards there being no additional conditions, some participants were willing to provide suggestions for the types of conditions that could potentially apply. These are set out in Chart 6 below:
CHART 6: What Additional Conditions Should be attached:
Recommendations
From the information gathered following the 4-week consultation it is recommended that the working group reconsider the proposed fees, proposed additional fees and whether temporary Short-Term Let Licences should be introduced.
Once agreement is reached on these matters in an East Dunbartonshire context, a finalised Short-Term Lets Policy should be taken to the Policy and Resources Committee on 25th August 2022 for approval.
If information is required to make an application to the Scheme please contact the Landlord Registration Officer in the Homelessness and Prevention Team on 0300 123 4510
Contacts for further information:
Claire McNeil, Strategy and Performance Adviser
Fiona Robertson, Policy Officer