THE City of Edinburgh Council approved more than three quarters of short term let (STL) applications in just over a year – despite declaring a housing emergency in 2023.
The revelation comes despite a law change in October 2022 which now requires STLs to be granted planning permission, in an attempt to address concerns over their impact on the rental market in Scotland.
In a period from October 2023 to Christmas 2024 though, there were 5,037 applications for an STL license – of which 4,267 were granted.
This gives new STL applications an approval rating of 84% despite the legislation, which put in place laws meaning applications will now take up to 15 months and a fine of £2,500 being doled out for unlicensed STLs.
Edinburgh became the first city in Scotland to become a short term let control area in September 2022.
It was reported in late 2024 that rent prices in the Lothians had risen a whopping 100% with the area now the most expensive in Scotland to rent.
The City of Edinburgh Council also declared a housing emergency in November of 2023, followed by a similar declaration just six months later by the Scottish Government itself.
Speaking yesterday a spokesperson for renters’ union Living Rent said: “For more than three quarters of applications to have been approved despite how badly the housing crisis and over-tourism is impacting Edinburgh is beyond belief.
“Despite a dire shortage of social housing and the most expensive private rents in Scotland, the council has approved over 4,000 of the 5,000 short term let applications.
“It is laughable that this policy has turned out to be quite so toothless and ineffective.
“The City of Edinburgh Council has declared a housing emergency and yet it is clearly unable to do the bare minimum of enforcing pre-existing policy.
“Short term lets are bad for local housing provision and they’re bad for local communities.
“Edinburgh is the perfect example of how the explosion of holiday lets has forced countless tenants out of the communities they call home due to the loss of long-term homes for residents.
“Those that can find a home, have seen their rent hiked up due to the unchecked surge in holiday lets hitting Edinburgh’s housing supply.
“We need a city that works for the people, not just those making profits.
“The current short-term let regulations we have are tepid at best, and we need STL policy that will meaningfully reduce the number, to ensure that residents have access to long-term homes and communities can thrive.
“Policy is only as good as its enforcement, and the council needs to be much stricter with its enforcement.”
