Short Term Lets Licensing Statistics Scotland to 30 June 2023

Of the 4,761 applications received and validated by local authorities by 30 June 2023, 2,452 (52%) had been granted as at end June 2023. Of these 2,452 applications granted, 992 were for applications received during October to December 2022, 980 for applications received during January to March 2023, and 480 for applications received during April to June 2023.

Of the 2,452 applications granted, 2,140 had been granted without additional condition. Of these 2,140  applications, 921 were received in October to December 2022, 866 were received in January to March 2023, and 353 were received in April and June 2023.

A further 312 valid applications were granted with additional conditions. Of these, 71 were applications received in October to December 2022, 114 were applications received in January to March 2023, and 127 were received in April to June 2023.

A total of 2,273 (48%) of applications received and validated were pending determination as at 30 June 2023, of which 177 had been received during October to December 2022, 501 were received during January to March 2023 and 1,595 were received in April to June 2023.

A total of 32 (0.7%) of applications received had been withdrawn as at 30 June 2023, and none had been refused, revoked, or suspended.

A total of 4 licences have lapsed. These were for temporary licences that ran for six weeks and were not renewed.

Chart 2 below illustrates the numbers of applications received by 30 June 2023 by status.

Chart 2: Status of applications as at 30 June 2023, by quarter received and validated

Table C in the supporting Excel document provides information on the number of applications received by each local authority by status as at 30 June 2023.

This shows that of the 2,140 applications approved with no additional conditions, 977 (46%) of these were in Highland and 401 (19%) were in Dumfries & Galloway.

Of the 312 applications granted with additional conditions, 56% of these were in Na h-Eileanan Siar (175), where the local authority have set out as part of their licensing policy statement three additional conditions which will apply to all short-term let properties, covering conditions around solid or liquid fuel fires or boilers, prevention of nuisance and disturbance, and equipment provided for guests.

Of the 32 applications withdrawn by applicants, 9 were in The City of Edinburgh, 8 were in Aberdeen City, and 7 were in Glasgow City, with the remaining in Perth and Kinross (3), South Ayrshire (2), Orkney (1), South Lanarkshire (1), and Stirling (1).

There were a total of 4 lapsed licences as at 30 June 2023, of which 3 were in Perth and Kinross and 1 in East Dunbartonshire. These represent six-week temporary licences which have since expired.

As at 30 June 2023, authorities who had reported that all (i.e. 100%) of applications received and validated by end June 2023 were still to be determined included Angus and Clackmannanshire. Excluding authorities with fewer than 10 total applications, authorities with the highest proportions of applications granted (either with or without additional conditions) included Shetland (98%), East Dunbartonshire (93%) and Na h-Eileanan Siar (85%).

The Scotland Summary Table D, in the supporting Excel workbook provides information on the status of applications by the quarter that the decision was made. Out of the total of 2,452 applications granted by the end of June 2023, this shows that very few (14) applications granted were decided during October to December 2022, with 1,006 decided between January and March 2023 and a further 1,432 decided during April to June 2023.