Question reference: S6W-04929
- Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
- Date lodged: 9 December 2021
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Current status: Answered by Shona Robison on 23 December 2021
Question
To ask the Scottish Government on what basis local authorities are able to set short-term let licensing fees, in light of there being no baseline data on the (a) number of premises to be licensed, (b) number of staff required to resource the scheme, (c) set-up costs, (d) implementation fees, (e) cost of inspections and (f) cost of appeals.
Answer
The Scottish Government published an updated Business and Regulatory Impact Assessment (BRIA) on 23 November. The BRIA sets out the baseline data currently available and trends, including information from the non-domestic rates valuation roll and about Airbnb, which show a significant growth in the number of properties which are being used for short-term lets.
The BRIA sets out the costs to local authorities and recovery through fees, and provides indicative average fees for a low and high cost scenario. The assumptions behind the average indicative fees for a short-term lets licence have been informed by discussions with local authorities.
The Licensing Order allows local authorities to raise revenue from fees to cover the costs of establishing and running their licensing scheme. The actual fees to be charged will be determined by local authorities following Scottish Government guidance and are likely to include higher and lower tiers, reflecting the varying sizes of premises to be licensed.
The licensing scheme will help to build a comprehensive picture of short-term let activity across Scotland.