Question
Untitled item
S6W-04987 · Written Question · lodged by Wishart, Beatrice
Lodged on
07 Dec 2021Heard / answered on
23 Dec 2021To ask the Scottish Government, further to the publication of its Business and Regulatory Impact Assessment (BRIA) on short-term let licensing, on what evidence it has based its assumption that “there is no reason why lenders and insurers should be unwilling to extend financial products to such a business, provided that they are satisfied that the business is being run in a safe way”, in light of the view that lenders base their support on the basis of turnover and profitability, as opposed to the safety of an activity.
The answer
At the heart of our licensing scheme is a set of mandatory standards which will help to protect the safety of guests and neighbours in short-term lets across Scotland. Provided an operator continues to comply with their licence conditions, which will often just be the mandatory safety conditions, their licence would normally be renewed. As the licensing scheme requires licence holders to comply with mandatory safety conditions, and they cannot continue to operate if they do not, it is reasonable to assume that lenders will have regard to this as part of their due diligence, alongside other considerations such as turnover and profitability.
Answered by Shona Robison on 23 Dec 2021.