Short-term let controls ‘cut city Airbnbs by half’
Short-term let controls ‘cut city Airbnbs by half’
Plus: Civil servants home-working prompts review of future of Scottish Government buildings
City planning leader says short-term let controls ‘are working’ after big fall in Airbnb ads
The number of city properties advertised to let on AirBnB has dropped by half after the city became the first local authority in Scotland to impose controls on short-term lets.
The fall of more than 3,300 in the number of ‘whole house’ lets advertised on the self-catering website has been welcomed by the city’s planning convener, councillor James Dalgleish, who said it showed the policy was working and returning more properties to residential use.
The full impact of the regulations, however, remains very unclear, with no indication how many of those 3,300 were full-time holiday lets as opposed to homes or students flats let out only during the Festival. Data “scraped” from the Internet by the Inside Airbnb website suggests as many as two-thirds of properties advertised in Edinburgh are only available for 90 days or less a year.
Big backlog: Holiday let owners continue to face great uncertainty with hundreds believed to be awaiting a decision on their application from the local authority. Only 105 whole property lets have so far been granted licences under the new policy, with around 1,500 more currently operating, either with pre-existing permission or pending a ruling on their application.
The numbers: The number of city properties advertised on Airbnb has fallen from 14,000 in 2019 to 7,000, within that number there has been a similar drop in whole house lets from more than 8,000 to 4,648 (less than a third of which are available for 90 days or more). The sector has always maintained these figures quoted by the city council overstate the number of holiday lets, due to factors such as duplicate ads and the high number rented out only at peak times.
The Fringe: As we reported last week, properties which are only let for a limited time during the year are to be exempt from the regulations, amid fears the drop in rental properties will exacerbate the accommodation crisis facing the Fringe, with several performers cancelling or excoriating the high costs of accommodation in recent days.
Heading back to court? In advising against an industry proposed fast-track system to approve many of the 1500 outstanding applications, officials are warning councillors they continue to risk further legal challenge from operators who are turned down. The council had to amend the scheme after significant elements were ruled unlawful in two separate Judicial Reviews last year.
YOUR EDINBURGH BRIEFING
A GOOD OMEN: Neil Gaiman has confirmed the shooting of season three of Good Omens will start in January. The hit Amazon Prime series starring Michael Sheen and David Tennant is filmed at the Pyramid Studios in Bathgate and on location, including in Edinburgh. Gaiman is still busy writing the next installment of the adventures of the angel Aziraphale and demon Crowley which he co-created with the late Terry Pratchett. If you can’t wait for next year, Gaiman’s Dead Boy Detectives is released on Netflix on Thursday.
UNIVERSITY SQUEEZE: Scotland’s universities warn they are facing their “toughest funding settlement by far” after more than £28m was cut from their teaching budgets for next year. Umbrella group Universities Scotland said every institution would have to cut its spending on teaching and warned the situation was becoming “unsustainable” after a decade of below-inflation settlements. The warning follows industrial unrest at universities across the country following disputes over other cuts in recent years.
MUSIC CENTRE: Fresh plans for converting the former Royal High School into a National Centre for Music after years of sitting empty have been submitted to the city council. Changes to the plans include demolishing most of the later buildings added to the original A-listed school building in order to create “new landscaped grounds and event spaces”. The £55m project is being bankrolled by the US arts philanthropist and supporter of the International Festival Carol Grigor.
LAST ENT NO MORE: Two hundred rare wych elm trees are being planted across Scotland thanks to work carried out at the Royal Botanic Garden to help secure the future of the species. It is hope the seedlings grown in Edinburgh will be resilient to the ravages of Dutch Elm disease. Among the planting sites is one in the Highlands alongside a soliltary ancient wych elm, dubbed the Last Ent of Glen Affric, after the mythological guardians of the woods in JRR Tolkein’s Lord of the Rings.
CRUISING AHEAD: Capital Cruising, the cruise division of Forth Ports, says a record total of 118 cruise ships are due to visit Edinburgh this year. The cruise season in Scotland traditionally runs between April and October. Edinburgh is a globally popular destination and viewed by the cruise market as a “marquee” cruise destination with iconic attractions, events, heritage and culture and most importantly, the city is known for welcoming cruise lines and cruise passengers.
ENGAGING ROBOT: Well we never… A robot that can wink, laugh, and shrug is about to help the National Robotarium in Edinburgh engage more people with the world of robotics. Ameca, described as the world’s most advanced humanoid robot and made by British company Engineered Arts, has been purchased by the Robotarium, which is based at Heriot-Watt University and operates in partnership with the University of Edinburgh. Ameca, welcome to your new home (wink wink).
REMAKE OUR DAY: It's Earth Day today, when we’re encouraged to think about what we can all do to safeguard the future of our planet. Why not support the work of award-winning social enterprise the Edinburgh Remakery, which repairs, recycles and re-uses old tech donated by businesses and individuals. Further information at www.edinburghremakery.org.uk
SCIENTIFIC ADVANCE: Edinburgh Science Festival – the world’s first - has announced its new Director, Hassun El-Zafar, who succeeds Dr Simon Gage OBE who is stepping down at the end of May after 34 years with Edinburgh Science, with 29 of them as Director and CEO. Hassun has a wide-ranging background in global science education, including delivering acclaimed STEM campaigns, notably the International Year of The Periodic Table in 2019, for institutions such as the Royal Society of Chemistry.
RAILING AGAINST DELAYS: Residents of Winchburgh – which claims to be Scotland’s fastest-growing town – have delivered a petition of more than 2000 signatures to MSPs calling for the Scottish Government to “name a date” for the delivery of a rail station for the town of around 4000 people. With a population set to increase to 14,000 in the coming decade, Winchburgh Community Council and Winchburgh Community Development Trust, who have developed the case for the station, maintain a rail link woud remove half a million car journeys from Central Belt motorways.
PAVEMENT PRIORITIES: More deprived areas of the Capital are to be given a higher priority for pavement repairs as part of council plans to invest £12.5 million in the coming year on roads and footpath repairs. The city is the first local authority in Scotland to give priority to poorer areas in this way and is doing so on the basis that lower car ownership in these neighbourhoods means people are more reliant on walking to get about.
ARMY HQ HOMES BID: The abandoned former British Army headquarters in Scotland at Craigiehall, on the western outskirts of Edinburgh, has been sold to developers who hope to turn the green belt site into a major housing scheme. Miller Developments and the William Pears Group want to, respectively, build homes on the 96-acre site and refurbish 78 existing former MOD houses. The site on the banks of the Almond includes A-listed Craigiehall House and its walled garden. The city council has resisted development on the site in the past due to its green belt status.
MEADOWS TO GEORGE ST: One of the city’s flagship active travel projects has taken a step forward with the publication of the statutory orders needed to allow work to start on the Meadows to George Street route. The scheme will introduce segregated cycleways, wider pavements, and pedestrian priority areas, including a two-way cycle lane on the Mound, George IV Bridge being narrowed to allow more space for pedestrians and a two-way segregated cycle lane, and the pedestrianisation of Forrest Road.
THE BUSINESS
Capital leads Scotland in real Living Wage employers
Edinburgh’s business community is leading Scotland in the campaign to pay employees the real Living Wage and this year has seen record 17 organisations accredited.
That has meant almost 1000 people receiving a direct uplift in pay this year and has taken the number of accredited employers in the city to 720. The real Living Wage is based on the cost of living and enables them to meet their everyday needs.
In addition, 10 employers have pledged to provide secure hours alongside payment of the real Living Wage by becoming Living Hours accredited.
Living Wage Scotland has 3500 accredited organisations as it enters its tenth year of campaigning, which means Edinburgh has 20% of all Scotland’s Living Wage organisations.
Kat Brogan, Managing Director of Mercat Tours and Co-Chair of the Edinburgh Living Wage Action Group, commented: “The Real Living Wage is a crucial element of ‘Real Living’ – a happy, healthy, fulfilling life. The Living Wage Scotland movement binds together a powerful and growing group of like-minded businesses who believe in activism – business for good.”
SUPPORT FOR WOMEN: Edinburgh Napier University and Women’s Enterprise Scotland have announced a collaboration to support more women into business. They are creating the SDG5 Living Lab offering tailored training, resources and networking for women looking to start businesses or improve their careers. The initiative is designed to advance the fifth Sustainable Development Goal (SDG5) set out by the UN in 2015, which is gender equality.
While women-led businesses already contribute £8.8bn to the Scottish economy every year, progress is at risk of stalling. The number of firms led by women declined from 20.6% in 2017 to 14% in 2019, and only nine women-led scale-ups exist in Scotland today.
FUTURE DESIGN: Edinburgh-based 7N Architects has moved to employee ownership. Owner and founding director Ewan Anderson has transferred 100% of his total shareholding to a trust acting on behalf of all the company’s 24 employees. Often referred to as the ‘John Lewis’ model, the EOT structure allows every member of the 7N team to share in the future success of the company.
BANK PROFITS FALL: Three of the UK’s major banks are expected to announce a fall in profits during the first quarter in the coming week. Even though interest rates have been falling, banks have sought to maintain savings rates as depositors chase better returns in a competitive market. That, plus higher mortgage rates, has squeezed the bottom line. Lloyds – owner of Bank of Scotland – will report on Wednesday, with NatWest, which trades at Royal Bank of Scotland north of the Border, will publish its figures on Friday. Barclays are also due to report.
THAT’S ENTERTAINMENT
PIPE UP: Trad star Brighde Chaimbeul plays Summerhall on Sunday at 7pm. The Scottish smallpipes player has come a long way - including taking to the stage at Glastonbury last summer - since winning BBC Radio 2’s Young Folk Award at the age of 17. A native Gaelic speaker from the Isle of Skye, Brighde’s music draws inspiration from global piping traditions, including Eastern Europe, Cape Breton and Ireland.
PEDAL POWER: To coincide with the Edinburgh Festival of Cycling, the Museum of Edinburgh is hosting an exhibition on the history of campaigning for safer cycling and active travel in the Capital. Pedal Power: Cycling and Activism in Edinburgh has been put together in partnership with community groups including Critical Mass, InfraSisters, Spokes and Bike Buses and runs from 31 May to 9 June.
FLEA MARKET: The Out of the Blue Drill Hall in Leith is holding its April Flea Market on Saturday at 10am-3pm. Free entry. Expect clothes, jewellery, antiques and collectibles among 45-plus stalls packed with pre-loved items. Also expect queues to get in at busier times, as the flea markets are very popular.
QUICK BITES
BAKED GOODIES: Two Lothian bakeries "worth queuing up for" have been named among the best in the UK by The Telegraph. Bostock in East Linton, East Lothian, and Lannan Bakery in 29-35 Hamilton Place, Edinburgh were named among the best in the UK.
LEASE ON MENU: The lease for Italian restaurant La Piazza in Shandwick Place has been put up for sale at £85,000 a year. The sale is being run by Cornerstone Business Agents who say the venue has more than 100 covers, a terrace and a “valuable 3am licence”.