Short-term lets – licensing scheme and planning control areas: business and regulatory impact assessment

Annex C1 Mandatory Conditions: Planning

Planning permission for change of use

A planning consent for a change of use might be expected to cost the applicant in the region of £630 to £1000. This assumes:

• the application relates solely to change of use (without any physical alteration to the appearance of the building); and
• the application does not raise unusual issues.

The Scottish Government’s estimate of costs breaks down as follows:

A straightforward change of use application would generally be capable of being prepared by the applicant and should not require significant professional advice or input.

There may be some costs if the application has to be advertised in the local press. Not all advertisements require a press advertisement. On receipt of an application, the planning authority is required to send written notification to all neighbouring properties within 20 metres and it is only if this cannot be done (i.e. there is no postal address for the neighbouring land to which the written notification can be delivered) that a press advert would be required. The costs of written notification are included in the application fee, the costs of press advertising are the actual cost of inserting the advertisement in the newspaper. Advert costs are not part of the application fee and would be invoiced for separately by the planning authority as and when required.

The actual costs for an individual advertisement would vary considerably. Where the advertisement was for a single planning application they could be higher. However, if the advertisement covers applications for several properties (not necessarily just short-term let applications), the cost of the advertisement would be split between the various applicants accordingly. An advert may be more likely to be required in a rural area where the surrounding land is less likely to have a postal address.

Architects drawings and plans of proposed work would not generally be required for a change of use, so the costs of such work are not listed.

In many cases, under current planning legislation, a change of use from a dwellinghouse to a short-term let would be a material change of use requiring a planning application. It is for the relevant planning authority to consider on a case-by-case basis whether or not a planning application is required. This will remain the position outside control areas. Within control areas, only a minority of properties would require a planning application that did not do so before. For many properties within a control area, the planning costs are not therefore be a direct consequence of the designation of the area as a short-term let control area.

Application for a certificate of lawfulness of use or development (CLUD)

Application for a CLUD might be expected to cost the applicant in the region of £520 to £900. This assumes:

• the application relies on demonstrating more than 10 years of prior continuous use as a short-term let; and
• the application does not raise unusual issues.

The cost breaks down as follows:

The information that would be required to be submitted in support of a CLUD application is different to that required for a planning application. In applying for a CLUD, the applicant is submitting evidence that the use does not require a planning application. The question to be considered is whether that proof is sufficient to justify a CLUD. Such evidence would generally take the form of receipts for guests staying at the accommodation, advertising etc.

A CLUD application does not have the same notification requirements as a planning application so there is no potential for advertising costs.

In terms of preparing the evidence and the application itself, there is potentially more requirement for the applicant to spend time gathering information from their records and corroborating from other sources.