Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982 (Licensing of Short-term Lets) (Amendment) Order 2024: business and regulatory impact assessment

2. Consultation

2.1 Within Government

The 2021 BRIA provides information about engagement within government, across the wider public sector and with partners such as Police Scotland/ Scottish Fire and Rescue Service prior to the 2022 Licensing Order achieving parliamentary approval.

Ministers and officials across different government portfolios have continued to liaise closely during the implementation of short-term let licensing. The following portfolios agencies and public sector bodies have informed this update:

• Tourism Division in the Scottish Government has advised on tourism throughout implementation.
• More Homes Division in the Scottish Government has led work and engaged across teams to discuss the 2024 Amendment Order.
• The Planning, Architecture and Regeneration Division has been consulted on the contents of the 2024 Amendment Order.
• The Scottish Government Legal Directorate has provided advice on the legal issues raised as part of the 2024 Amendment Order.
• Visit Scotland has chaired the Industry Advisory Group, and also provided input and feedback.
• Local authorities and COSLA.

2.2 Public Consultation

The Scottish Government undertook public consultation throughout the development of short-term let regulation proposals in 2019^[1], 2020^[2] and 2021^[3], which resulted in the 2022 Licensing Order.

During 2022 and 2023, the Scottish Government has engaged regularly with stakeholder groups and partners to monitor implementation, including with tourism bodies via an Industry Advisory Group (facilitated by Visit Scotland), a licensing forum for local authority officials managing local short-term let licensing schemes (facilitated by Scotland’s Housing Network), a dedicated working group of local authority lawyers (SOLAR) that includes Police Scotland/ Scottish Fire and Rescue, and a forum for community and resident groups.

Since October 2023, a more focused phase of engagement with these partners has been undertaken with the purpose of informing the 2024 implementation update.

The Scottish Government has engaged with licensing authorities through small group feedback sessions and via the completion and return of questionnaires, providing an opportunity for licencing authorities to report on implementation matters and, where appropriate, resolve concerns. This engagement will continue as an ongoing, iterative process to monitor delivery and to identify solutions to any operational challenges, as well as what emerging good practice looks like.

The Scottish Government has also engaged with Community Groups, home swapping organisations as well as industry, encouraging feedback on the implementation of Short-term let licensing. We have also been in receipt of a range of correspondence, some of which has been relevant to the content of the 2024 Amendment Order.

2.3 Business

Businesses were primarily consulted through the three public consultations, which informed the original scheme, the detail of which is set out in the 2021 BRIA. Through engagement, correspondence to Ministers and informal engagement in 2023 and 2024 we have heard from the following:

Accommodation providers – ranging from Airbnb hosts, to self-catering businesses, serviced apartments and aparthotels;

Letting agents, platforms and aparthotels – Airbnb, booking.com, HomeAway (Expedia), Visit Scotland;

Tourism and business – Scottish Tourism Alliance, Scottish B&B Association, Short Term Accommodation Association and Association of Scottish Self-Caterers.

We recognise that some STL businesses have requested government to go further with this implementation update, but for the reasons outlined here and through the Minister’s engagement with Parliament the scope of the 2024 Amendment Order has been set with a clear rationale. We will continue to consider further technical updates.