Meeting of the Parliament 13 September 2023
I will conclude.
I strongly reject the Opposition’s claim that the scheme should be paused while we wait for a further review. Our Government has taken more than sufficient time to develop an approach to an issue that has been raised by all parties, and we have prioritised the short-term let sector’s voice during the scheme’s development. The scheme has been in place since 2022 and it represents fair regulation.
We have listened to the concerns of the sector. We are making sure that, as long as people have their application in by 1 October, they will be allowed to continue, and local authorities have 12 months to come back to that. We are actively engaging on the next steps to plan sensible updates to the scheme, and we will continue to work with the sector and partners to progress it.
I move amendment S6M-10411.3, to leave out “notes” to end and insert:
“recognises the success of Scotland’s growing tourism sector and that well-managed, short-term lets are a significant part of that economy; welcomes the reassurance and safeguards for visitors, hosts and communities that the short-term lets licensing scheme provides; acknowledges the work that local authorities have done to date in processing applications, and also those hosts who have submitted applications so far; highlights the six-month extension to the application deadline, giving nearly two years for hosts to comply with licensing conditions and a year to prepare and submit an application; notes the ongoing Scottish Government engagement with local authorities and the short-term lets sector across Scotland; calls on all MSPs to focus on supporting and encouraging any outstanding applications to be submitted to local authorities before 1 October 2023; confirms the Scottish Government's ongoing work to listen to and engage with the sector, and reaffirms the Scottish Government's commitment to an implementation review update in early 2024.”
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