City faces wave of short-term let appeals as it seems set to ignore olive branch
City faces wave of short-term let appeals as it seems set to ignore olive branch
Plus: Pavement parking ban starts; Firth of Forth tugs go green; and Andy Warhol exhibition detective work
The city council faces a long and costly battle to enforce its crackdown on short-term lets as it prepares to rebuff an olive branch solution offered by operators.
New restrictions have seen a dramatic reduction in self-catering “secondary lets” with just 700 stand-alone properties now very likely to be licensed to operate in the city.
With another 1,100 still pursuing permission, operators had proposed a “point in time” fast-track system to approve many of these and avert a wave of appeals and the risk of further legal challenges.
But on Wednesday the council’s planning committee will be asked to approve an updated policy which will allow the local authority to continue its hard line approach, which would almost certainly herald another year of uncertainty, delay and potentially costly legal challenges. The council has already spent £400,000 defending policies which have been deemed to be “unlawful” in two separate Judicial Reviews.
Councillors are being asked to approve amended planning policy and guidelines in a report to come before the planning committee on Wednesday, but this includes several caveats around potential costs and pressures on the planning service.
Others will be watching with keen interest, not least the city’s vital festivals. The Fringe is understood to be particularly concerned, and has already reported that it requires hundreds of thousands of bed-nights to accommodate the performers and workers it attracts, far less visitors. Further cuts in accommodation may end up with a reduced festival.
Self-catering accommodation is also a significant resource for large local employers, including the Universities and NHS to tap into, as they attract new staff to the city who need a place to stay for weeks or months as they seek to find more permanent accommodation.
THE CONTEXT
Towards the end of 2022 the council used enabling Scottish Parliament legislation to declare the entire city as a short-term let control zone. The latest court battle centred on whether the control zone could be applied retrospectively where a change of use had occurred before September 2022, as the council maintained, but this was rejected by the judge, Lord Braid, at the Court of Session as “unfair and illogical.”
The court ruling means there can be no blanket approach in the planning process. Each case will require to be considered on its own merits according to rules which existed before the introduction of the control zone.
The sector maintains the process to date has already radically reduced the number of short-term lets that the city council said operated within the city - figures were quoted as high as 12,000 - as operators dropped out, and also offered additional measures that would limit any amenity concerns.
THE SUGGESTION
Numbers of applications for secondary let (entire home) properties are significantly lower than numbers previously quoted, just 1800 in total with only 1100 awaiting determination around claims they should receive planning Certificates of Lawfulness as they operated prior to September 2022.
In a letter to the councillors, which has not been included in the papers issued in advance, the operators say “Going forward, any new operator will require a full planning application under the Planning Control Area. We believe that there is a workable, legally robust solution to safeguard City of Edinburgh Council’s clear intention to robustly regulate STLs, whilst protecting the small number of professional operators that the city relies on to provide short-term accommodation…
“To mitigate against further legal challenges, and to reduce the resource required to consider every existing property on a case-by-case basis, we set out the following recommendation to amend the planning policy to reflect that for properties operating pre-designation date of a PCA (5 September 2022):
‘as a matter of policy, any property in existing use that is not subject to complaint or enforcement is not considered to be a material change of use and therefore does not require planning permission and a certificate of lawful use can be granted.’
“This would offer a balanced, reasonable, proportionate and lawful solution to the current challenge and provide reassurance to legitimate businesses that find themselves in an impossible situation currently. We see this as an opportunity to draw a line in the sand and move forward with STL legislation, which can still be viewed as a success for all parties involved, whilst evidencing some much-needed reflection and pragmatism on achievements the Council has already made regulating the sector.”
OUTCOMES?
Much will depend on the committee’s mood to work with the sector going forward. While amended guidance has been recommended by officials their paper also accepts that the potential cost for dealing with ongoing legal appeals and enforcement in the existing 1100 cases is not known and accepts that such a process will only “exacerbate” pressure on the planning system.
However, the sector maintains that greater cuts to the numbers of existing secondary lets will certainly render the sector incapable of providing the levels of self-catering flexibility required to support the needs of the city, cost the city economy millions and cost jobs.
The sector has made the suggestion following legal advice from one of Scotland’s leading planning lawyers to try to end uncertainty, but it does maintain its right to mount further legal challenges if its suggestions is ignored.
YOUR EDINBURGH BRIEFING
‘TARTAN TAT’ TO STAY: A bid to change the mix of shops on the Royal Mile to remove some of the “tartan tat” stores and replace them with one selling Scottish-produced goods has been thrown out. SNP councillor Marco Biagi wanted the city council to use its position as landlord of 44 properties on the Mile to actively influence the retail mix, but councillors rejected the plan after being warned it could halve the local authority’s rental income. Terry Levinthal, director of the Cockburn Association conservation charity, described the decision as “disappointing”.
JK’S ‘£40M IN TAXES’: JK Rowling has been ranked alongside Ed Sheeran and Rishi Sunak’s wife Akshata Murty, the daughter of an Indian IT billionaire, in a list of the highest payers of UK taxes. The Edinburgh author is estimated to have paid £40m in taxes in the last year alone by The Times. The massive global appeal of Harry Potter also saw Edinburgh’s Harry Potter Trail rated one of the best free attractions in Britain this week based on its 2.2m views on TikTok.
PARADE STANDS DOWN: Edinburgh Zoo's famous penguin parade has been postponed indefinitely to protect the birds from a deadly strain of avian flu which has been damaging populations in recent weeks and months. The zoo is home to a penguin colony of more than 100 King, Gentoo and Northern Rockhopper penguins.
NHS AXE STAFF BUS: A free shuttlebus taking Royal Infirmary staff to and from the Sheriffhall park and ride site is to be dropped after NHS Lothian was asked to find 7% savings in its budget for next year. The service was introduced to help staff after car parking was drastically reduced at the hospital following the building of the new Sick Kids. The health board says it will review its staff parking permit scheme and is encouraging staff to car share.
PAVEMENT PARKING BAN STARTS: Enforcement begins today for Edinburgh’s pavements parking ban with 500 streets where the problem has been identified as widespread being targeted by council wardens. Drivers face £100 fines - reduced to £50 for prompt payment - for leaving vehicles mounted on kerbs, or parked across dropped kerbs or double parked, with an exemption for delivery drivers when there is no other reasonable option.
MORE STUDENT ACCOMMODATION: A 267-bed student accommodation block has been given the go-ahead as part of the £240m New Waverley regeneration project in the Old Town. The old bus depot site had previously been earmarked for more affordable homes before recent shifts in the housing market. The development will be the Vita Student residence in Edinburgh adding to ones at Fountainbridge and Iona Street, Leith.
TENEMENT CRACKS: Building safety inspectors are investigating the cause of cracks which have appeared in a five-storey Victorian tenement block beside the tram line in Newhaven. Residents of 12 flats were evacuated last week after a deterioration in the state of the block on the corner of Lindsay Road and Archerfield.
FLOOD SCHEME ADVANCES: The £53m Musselburgh Flood Protection Scheme has been given the go-ahead to move on to the next stage of development despite protests about the growing costs and concerns it is over-engineered. East Lothian councillors approved the outline design of the scheme - which was originally costed at less than £9m in 2016 - after council leader Norman Hampshire warned of the risk to future generations if work stalled. Opponents calling for the project to be reviewed say less than a tenth of the measures included in the scheme are nature based.
GREEN OFFICES: An 18-acre sustainable office campus, featuring a multi-storey car park billed as Scotland’s largest electric vehicle charging point, is to be built at Edinburgh Park. With tram and rail stops nearby, developers Shelborn Asset Management expect just one in ten visitors to the seven office blocks to arrive by car, with most taking public transport.
THE BUSINESS
HYDROGEN INNOVATION AT LEITH: Tugs operating in the Firth of Forth are to help turn the net zero tide through an innovative and UK-first trial developed to use clean, green hydrogen energy to cut carbon emissions from vessels when they are berthed in port.
A consortium of four Scottish maritime and renewable companies has secured a UK Government Grant to pioneer the technology in a year-long trial. The partners Forth Ports, Waterwhelm, Logan Energy and PlusZero, will deliver a state-of-the-art demonstrator system for green hydrogen shore power that will remove the need for diesel-powered systems currently in use on many quaysides.
The project draws together expertise from the water, energy and transport sectors, and it is hoped that the project will eventually lead to the use of green hydrogen in shore power supply even to large ships and vessels, providing a step change in decarbonising the maritime industry.
The green hydrogen will be produced from wastewater from the nearby water treatment works in Seafield, without compromising local water supplies.
BAILLIE GIFFORD TO CUT BONDS STAFF: Edinburgh-based fund management giant Baillie Gifford is expected to shed dozens of staff as it shuts down four fixed income (or bond) funds. The decision to close the four worldwide bond funds follows a review and decision to focus on UK income business growth.
In a statement, the partner-owned firm said: “We have taken the decision to close four funds where only a small number of clients are invested,” read the statement.
“As part of our regular business planning, we consider how to reduce our expenditure, however, our partnership structure ensures we can continue to invest in growing areas of the business while pursuing excellent long-term returns for our clients.”
The four funds have less than £50m of external client assets, in the context of the more than £2bn of direct fixed income assets managed for a UK client base. Baillie Gifford has total assets under management of more than £225 billion.
PARK SALE: South Gyle Trade Park in the west of Edinburgh has been sold for almost £14 million. The industrial estate has been bought by Rossco Properties from Lismore Real Estate Advisors on behalf of abrdn. The site is made up of 18 terraced and detached trade counter units, three light industrial units and a single office building of 4,172 sq ft.
INTEREST RATES: The Bank of England will meet for the first time in 2024 on Thursday to make its latest decision on interest rates, with all expectation that the 5.25% current rate will be left on hold. While the market remains confident that a cut in the rate is coming, a number of inflationary and labour market factors – most notably wage and services sector inflation – appear likely to leave the Bank unconvinced the cut should be made now.
THAT’S ENTERTAINMENT
ENTER THE DRAGON: The spectacular Chinese New Year Celebration for Scotland returns to the Mound on Sunday at noon-3pm. Get there early to get the best views of the traditional dragon and lion dance, the beautiful long fan dance, waist drummers and Chinese folk music. A great family event with audience interaction to celebrate the start of the Year of the Dragon.
TAPESTRY GOES POP: The detective work that went into discovering many of the pieces on display at Andy Warhol: The Textiles is as much fun as the pretty, playful designs. Think ice cream sundaes, toffee apples, sliced lemons and pretzels. The first exhibition in Scotland dedicated to the pop art icon’s commercial textile designs is a joy and runs at the Dovecot Studios until 18 May.
ANIMATION CELEBRATION: From an acrobatic Thomas Hardy adaptation to a farcical robot dinner service, see some of the best new animated film, puppetry and visual theatre from Scotland and around the world at the Manipulate Festival. This year the critically-acclaimed festival includes an international exchange with artists from Finland, Norway, Belgium and Germany. Events at various venues, including Summerhall, Dance Base and the Traverse, on 1-11 February.
QUICK BITES
GIN TONIC: Edinburgh has been chosen by independent Scottish gin distiller Eden Mill to host its first “immersive drinks venue.” The Heads and Tales Gin Bar at 1A Rutland Place opens on Saturday, offering cocktails to enjoy and opportunities to learn more about mixology.
SUCCESS ON MENU: Edinburgh’s Scran and Scallie in foodie Stockbridge has been named as one of the 50 best UK gastropubs. At an event hosted by Estrella Damm, the venue was the only Scottish gastropub to make the annual list. It also enjoys a prestigious Bib Gourmand in the Michelin Guide.
ANOTHER LOSS: Popular Stockbridge wine bar and bistro Whiskers has announced that it is closing with immediate effect. In a statement, the owners confirmed that all bookings would be cancelled as they could “no longer afford to stay open.”