Public consultation must take place on plans to introduce licenses – including mandatory conditions and costs – for owners of short-term rentals.
Glasgow’s Licensing and Regulation Committee has approved consultation on a draft policy after the Scottish Government agreed to introduce licensing for short-term rentals.
They will all need to be licensed by April 1, 2024, and councils must be able to accept applications by October 1 this year.
Under the proposed policy, owners of properties, such as those rented out on Airbnb, would be required to pay a fee, between £125 and £400, to obtain a licence.
A new three-year license for rental or home-sharing for four or fewer people would cost £125 while for five or more visitors it would cost £275. If the property is a secondary rental, the charge would be £250 for four or fewer people and £400 for five or more people.
Renewals would range from £75 to £350 depending on the property. Any request to change a license would cost £75.
Grounds for refusing, suspending or revoking a license include if the owner or manager of the property is “no longer a fit and proper person to hold a license” or if the continued operation of a short-term rental “causes or is likely to cause undue public nuisance or a threat to public order or public safety”.
The suitability of the premises, including its condition and the “type of people” likely to be staying there, will be reviewed before an application is granted.
From October, new hosts and operators will be able to advertise their premises but “cannot take reservations or have guests stay” until they have obtained a license.
Existing hosts, renting their premises for short-term rental before October 2022, will have until April 1, 2023 to request authorization. Before submitting the application, they can continue to rent the property.
“If your grant application is denied, you cannot continue to operate your premises as an STL, under penalty of appeal,” the draft policy states.
Landlords would be required to have the relevant planning permission to use their property as a short-term rental or “a certificate of legality confirming that the extent of use does not constitute a material change of use”.
Applicants will also be required to post a notice near their premises to show that they are bidding for a license. Police Scotland, the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service, Councilors and Community Councils will be consulted on applications.
Objections could be submitted within 28 days and would lead to a hearing in which “plaintiffs and opponents will have an equal opportunity to be heard”. Appeals against rejected applications could be lodged in the Sheriff Court within 28 days.
Each license could last up to three years, with owners then having to apply for a renewal. They could be suspended immediately if the council, on the advice of Police Scotland or the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service, is “of the opinion that the carrying out of the activity to which the license relates causes or is likely to cause a serious threat to public order”. or public safety”.
A hearing would then take place to decide whether to suspend for a further period, revoke the license or take no further action. It is a criminal offense to operate a short-term rental without a licence, the draft policy says, and a public register of licensees will be maintained by the council.
Temporary exemptions may not be granted as “one of the reasons for introducing STL legislation is to ensure that basic safety standards are in place” and with temporary licenses there is no would have “no obligation to display a site notice, no possibility of objections or representations to be received other than those of the consulted statutory”.
However, the draft policy adds that the council “may however grant temporary exemptions for national events in Glasgow”.
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