If imposed, restrictions on ownership and property use could have a major impact on the local tourist industry.
The Association of Scotland’s Self Caterers (ASSC) has issued a recommendation for Argyll & Bute Council to pause a consultation on short term let control areas.
Amongst other things, the organisation has cited legal concerns that moving to limit or prevent the number of propertied available to rent for brief periods of time may put exiting businesses at risk, even if they are operating lawfully, and therefore leave the authority liable to compensation claims and court challenges.
Localities including Mull & Iona, Coll & Tiree, Islay, Jura & Colonsay, Lorn and the Inner Isles have all been included in the consultation. According to the ASSC, under the current proposal rules would go well beyond controlling short term lets and threaten the survival of existing operations. The council has also accepted that the framework would make it possible to ‘[refuse] licensing renewals’, which could in turn prevent ‘individual existing tourism businesses will be forced to cease operating.’
‘What makes these plans different is that it doesn’t simply restrict future short-term lets – it will hit existing, licensed businesses that have already invested, complied with regulation, supported local jobs brought visitor expenditure into communities across Argyll & Bute,’ said Fiona Campbell, Chief Executive of the ASSC. ‘We have engaged constructively with the Council but the more closely we have examined these proposals, the more concerned we have become. We now believe the legal issues must be resolved before the public is consulted.’
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