Short lets in Scotland: the rules owners must follow

Every short let needs a licence

Scotland licenses short lets council by council under the Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982 (Licensing of Short-term Lets) Order 2022. The rule is simple: no licence, no guests. You must hold the licence before you take bookings or welcome anyone, and each home needs its own. Hosts who were already trading had until 1 October 2023 to apply, so anyone starting now must wait for the licence to be granted before letting.

Letting without a licence is a criminal offence. On conviction, a court can fine you up to £2,500. Your licence number has to be on every listing, so an unlicensed home is easy for the council to spot.

When you apply, you choose the type of let. The licence then covers that type only, so pick the one that matches how you will really use the home.

Most homes run by a management company are secondary letting.

The conditions every licence carries

Each licence comes with the same set of mandatory conditions, written into the law. Councils can add their own on top, so read your council’s policy as well. The national list covers safety, guests and paperwork.

• Annual gas safety check
• EICR at least every 5 years
• PAT testing of appliances
• Fire and smoke alarms
• Carbon monoxide alarms
• Legionella risk assessment
• Buildings and public liability insurance
• A set maximum of guests

Some of these need explaining. An EICR (electrical installation condition report) is an electrician’s check of the fixed wiring, needed at least every five years. PAT testing checks the plug-in appliances guests can use, such as kettles and lamps, and each one must be dated, labelled and signed. If a gas appliance fails its safety check, you cannot let the home until it is fixed. Furniture and mattresses in guest areas must meet the fire safety rules for furnishings, and you need records to show it. Our guides to gas and electrical checks and fire safety go into the detail.

Inside the home you must make available, where every guest can find it, a certified copy of the licence and its conditions, fire, gas and electrical safety information, the safety certificates, what to do if a carbon monoxide alarm sounds, and how to call the emergency services. Outside it, every listing or advert must show the licence number and, where an energy performance certificate (EPC) is needed, the home’s energy rating.

How to apply, step by step

You apply to the council for the area where the home is, and pay a fee the council sets. The process is public, which is why it takes a while. Allow several months from application to decision, and do not take bookings until the licence is granted.

1. Before you apply
   Gather the certificatesGas safety record, EICR, PAT report, legionella assessment, alarm details and insurance.
2. Before you apply
   Check planningIn a control area, apply for planning permission or a certificate of lawful use first or alongside.
3. Day 1
   Apply and pay the feeThrough your council, with floor plans and details of everyone who will manage the let.
4. First 21 days
   Display the site noticeA notice of the application goes up at or near the home so neighbours can see it.
5. Within 28 days
   Objections closeAnyone can object; if they do, a licensing committee usually holds a hearing.
6. Up to 9 months
   The council decidesIt may inspect the home, grant the licence with conditions, or refuse it.
7. Once granted
   Add the number and go livePut the licence number on every listing, then renew before it expires.

Most refusals and delays come from missing paperwork, a planning problem or objections from neighbours in a shared building. A clean application with every certificate in date moves fastest. We prepare the licence application with you. Whoever will manage the let should be named on it as a holder, so they can run it from the day the licence is granted.

Control areas and planning permission

A licence and planning permission are separate. Councils can declare a short-term let control area, where turning a home that is not your main home into a short let counts as a change of use that needs planning permission. Letting your own home while you are away, or letting a room in it, does not need permission.

Two control areas are in force: the whole of the City of Edinburgh, since September 2022, and Badenoch and Strathspey in the Highlands, since March 2024. More may follow. More may follow. In September 2026 Highland Council agreed to ask Scottish Ministers to approve two more, one for Inverness and one covering large rural areas including Skye and Raasay, Lochaber, Wester Ross and Sutherland.

Outside control areas, councils decide case by case whether short letting a whole home is a material change of use, so ask the planning team if you are unsure. Our guide to planning permission and short lets covers the wider picture.

Council tax or business rates

Scotland uses the same test as England for paying business rates (called non-domestic rates here) instead of council tax. A home only moves onto the valuation roll if it is available to let for 140 days in the financial year and actually let for 70 days of those. The assessor can ask for evidence, such as booking records.

Missing the test can be expensive. A short let on council tax that nobody lives in as their main home is usually treated as a second home, and since April 2026 Scottish councils can set the second homes premium above 100%. If the 70 days were missed for exceptional reasons, the council can choose to keep the home on non-domestic rates.

That is why the 70-day test matters. A home let steadily all year will usually clear it. One let only in the summer may not. Our guide to council tax or business rates explains the rules across the UK.

The visitor levy

Scottish councils can now add a visitor levy, a percentage charged on the cost of overnight stays. It covers short lets as well as hotels, even for hosts below the VAT threshold. In Edinburgh, the accommodation provider is liable for the levy, sends quarterly returns through a national online portal and pays it over at the same time.

Rates and dates as announced by each council. Other councils are considering their own levies.

Providers normally pass the levy on to guests on top of the price, so it need not come out of your income, but it does need accurate records of every stay and what was charged for the room. In Edinburgh some guests are exempt, including people receiving certain disability benefits, who pay and then claim the money back from the council. If your home is in a levy area, make sure whoever runs the let has the levy set up on every booking channel before the start date.

Before your first guest

Put together, the order matters. Check planning first, because a refusal there makes the licence pointless. Then get the home safe and certified, apply, and only list it once the licence number is in your hands.

1. Check planningFind out whether the home is in a control area and what your title deeds or factor allow.
2. Make the home safeBook the gas, electrical and legionella checks and fit the right alarms.
3. Sort the insuranceBuildings cover for the licence period and public liability for every let.
4. Apply for the licenceName everyone who will manage the let and display the site notice.
5. List the homeShow the licence number on every listing and set up the visitor levy where it applies.

Two other checks apply in Scotland just as elsewhere: your mortgage lender and your insurer both need to know the home is a short let. Our guides to mortgages and insurance explain what to ask.

Questions owners ask