Question reference: S6W-23003
- Asked by: Ariane Burgess, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Green Party
- Date lodged: 17 November 2023
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Current status: Answered by Paul McLennan on 4 December 2023
Question
To ask the Scottish Government what the most recent figures are, based on local authority records, for the number of short-term let applications that have been received in each local authority area.
Answer
The Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982 (Licensing of Short-term Lets) Order 2022 requires licensing authorities to maintain and publish a public register of short-term let licences on their website, or other website established for that purpose. The register is required to include a note of the kind and terms of each licence granted by the licensing authority, as well as other information set out in paragraph 13 of Schedule 2 of the Licensing Order.
Licensing authorities are also required to share content of their public register with the Scottish Government on a quarterly basis for statistical analysis purposes. The Scottish Government publishes a quarterly statistical return on short-term let licensing applications. The first return was published on 31 August 2023 covering the period from 1 October 2022 to 31 March 2023. The second return for the period 1 April 2023 to 30 June 2023 was published on 20 November 2023. We expect the return covering the period up to and including 30 September 2023 will be published in early 2024.