The Confederation of St Andrews Residents Asociations, working with the Community Council and Preservation Trust, is calling for measures to enable the Council to regulate and manage Short Term Lets by establishing Control Areas in St Andrews.
Introduction
Fife Council is to consult on the need to regulate the number of lets in parts of Fife where there is pressures caused by the increasing number of these establishments. These AirBnB type establishments reduce the availability of housing for long-termresidents and cause increases in house prices and rents. To address these challenges, the Scottish Government has proposed the establishment of control areas for short-term lets. This article aims to inform the community about the
importance of these control areas and how they can benefit us all. The Council’s initial approach to this issue was to decide against having control areas, but this can now be changed through the consultation process which is now to take place.
The Growth of Short-Term Lets
In recent years, websites such as AirBnB and Booking.com have encouraged the proliferation of short-term lets across Scotland. While this boom has increased theincome of landlords, the unchecked expansion of short-term lets can cause
fundamental changes in the nature of communities. Apart from housing pressures, proliferation of short-term lets can:
* Contribute to overcrowding and strain on local infrastructure.
*Lead to noise, waste management, and other environmental concerns.
Why Control Areas are Necessary.
Control areas enable the local council to regulate and manage short-term lets.
Implementing control areas is crucial for several reasons:
* Protection of housing stock.
* Maintaining a sense of community.
*Prevention of over-commercialisation of residential areas.
*Ensuring that transient visitors do not overwhelm residential areas and amenities.
The Situation in St Andrews
*The total Number of dwellings in St Andrews in 2022 was reckoned to be 7,490.
*As of 15 th November 2023 there were 590 short-term let applications for St Andrews representing 7.8% of all dwellings. Without a control area, the number of short-term lets has increased considerably since that time. At present most short-term let licences have been approved without prior planning permission being required.
What will we do about this?
St Andrews Community Council and the Confederation of St Andrews Residents’ Associations, together with the Preservation Trust, believe that Fife Council’s consultation should be based on the issues and benefits, not on the number of votes for or against.
*Accurate information should be provided to communities by Fife Council prior to the consultation on the numbers of applications in the pipeline and approved licences.
*Fife Council should advise that planning permission is required for short-term lets in control areas and that National Planning policy requires that short-term lets should only be supported where they do not have an adverse impact on:
(a) the environment or the amenity or character of an area, or
(b) the quality of life and health and wellbeing of the local community; or
(c) the availability of residential accommodation where this is not outweighed by demonstrable economic benefit.
(This latter criterion is particularly important given that Fife Council has declared a Housing Emergency).
The Association of Scotland’s Self-Caterers has lobbied strongly with every local authority in Scotland and provided a study that they had commissioned which concluded that short-term lets provided significant economic benefits.
However, a more detailed and independent report written by consultants for Edinburgh Council demonstrated that there were significant economic losses as jobs created by these establishments were generally poorly paid and did
not produce the same financial benefits as family and mainstream housing. Edinburgh has established a Control Area and has refused hundreds of planning applications by short-term let operators.
What can you do?
Please do respond to the consultation when it open. Information about the consultation will be available via the online Trust Planning Matters Update, the community web newspaper St Andrews QV. https://standrewsqv.org.uk/ and the Fife Council Website. We hope that the content of this article will provide information which will help to inform your response.
David Middleton, Chair, Confederation of St Andrews Residents’ Associations
