New legislation for self-catering providers has been branded “a sledgehammer to crack quite a small nut”.
There are fears the multi-million pound industry will be threatened by a licensing scheme aimed at tackling concerns surrounding rental platforms such as Airbnb.
Under the Scottish Government’s legislation, which has been voted through by MSPs, all “short-term let properties” will require a licence by the summer of 2024.
Richard Hermon, from Galloway Activity Centre, which offers a variety of self-catering accommodation, fears that the new rules could “potentially be devastating”.
And South of Scotland Destination Alliance chief executive Ross McAuley said: “It is a sledgehammer to crack quite a small nut. There is a localised issue in Glasgow and Edinburgh around Airbnb lets.
“There are relevant concerns about how they are being managed but that is a lot different to a rural setting, with professionally run businesses that benefit the local economy.
“We don’t have a huge amount of hotels here. To attract tourism people need a place to stay and in Dumfries and Galloway self-catering is worth £53 million to the economy.
“Properties are not just there for the benefit of the owner – they’ll employ a handyman, they’ll order from the local baker, they’ll have a gardener. There are all these wraparound economic benefits for the community.
“It isn’t clear what it is or how onerous it will be from a bureaucratic or cost standpoint. People will be worrying whether or not they will get a licence.”
Local authorities will be tasked with enforcing the legislation and have until October to come up with a short-term lets licencing scheme.
Mr Hermon told the News that accommodation providers are in limbo until they know what Dumfries and Galloway Council’s approach will be.
He said: “I’m hoping they take a pragmatic view on it. We’re in the hands of the council right now – we’re waiting to see how they interpret it and what they say.
“It’s going to cost money to administer and the council has to decide how much to administer and to charge everybody so we’re waiting with baited breath.
“If there’s a lot of stuff we need to do on top of what we need to do already they need to let us know sooner rather than later and also the associated costs.”
The Association of Scotland’s Self-Caterers was involved in a working group on the proposed legislation but quit last year claiming the body was “not fit for purpose”.
Chief executive Fiona Campbell said: “Many people running legitimate businesses in Scotland’s countryside feel that this Scottish Government does not consider them to be a priority and this ill-considered and damaging stealth tax will do little to change that view.”
The Scottish Government claims the legislation is partly aimed at tackling the impact of short-term lets on housing supply – although Mr McAuley and Mr Hermon dispute that.
Housing Secretary Shona Robison said: “Our licensing scheme will allow local authorities and communities to take action to manage issues more effectively, without unduly curtailing the many benefits of short-term lets to hosts, visitors and the economy.
“This is the next step to delivering a licensing scheme that will ensure short-term lets are safe and that allowing them to continue to make a positive impact on Scotland’s tourism industry and local economies.”
Galloway and West Dumfries Tory MSP Finlay Carson, who voted against the proposals at Holyrood last week, said: “This scheme is completely misguided yet SNP-Green ministers have ploughed on despite widespread opposition to it.”
SNP MSP Emma Harper, who backed the move, said: “The new short term let legislation brought forward by the Scottish Government is designed to allow Scottish local authorities to take action to ensure people – including across Dumfries and Galloway – have access to housing in their local area and to discourage the often limited available housing supply from being used as short term lets.
The council was asked for comment.
