The tourist tax is building cheap homes for city workers
Who will be at the front of the queue when they open their doors?
Welcome to your midweek edition of The Inquirer.
For today’s long read Emma Newlands has been looking at the city’s plans to invest £5 million a year from the proceeds of the capital’s new so-called ‘tourist tax’ in affordable homes.
Flats being built on the edge of the city centre are going to be reserved for “visitor economy workers”, but who exactly will benefit and how will these protected properties be managed?
More on that below, but first your regular midweek news roundup and your cultural highlights for the week ahead.
Your Edinburgh Briefing
FILM STAR SPOTTING: Bridgerton and Derry Girls star Nicola Coughlan has been spotted filming on the Dumbiedykes estate for Operation Wipe Out. The film, directed by Scottish screenwriter Paul Laverty, tells the story of a teacher who helps her pupils channel their anxieties about the climate crisis into a radical theatre production. Meanwhile, the Netflix hit crime thriller Dept Q has been filming on location around the city including at the Bridge 8 Hub and Paddle Cafe in Sighthill and Warriston Cemetery.
HONEYCOMB HOTEL: The A-listed former Scottish Widows headquarters on Dalkeith Road will be converted into a hotel under change of use proposals submitted to the city council by Ica Studios. The Basil Spence-designed landmark would retain its distinctive honeycomb design, with seven interconnected hexagonal modules, with a separate residential scheme for the remainder of the site.
LA SCALA REBOOT: The former La Scala cinema on Nicolson Street will be converted into a cafe and community space under plans submitted to the city council. The Southside landmark, opposite Surgeons’ Hall, has also been a music hall and more recently a bingo hall, before falling into disuse in the last ten years.
SUMMERTIME STREETS: The council has confirmed details of its traditional Summertime Streets programme of pedestrian measures, covering several city centre streets across 50 days from 27 July to 7 September.
COP SHOP SHUT: Gayfield Square Police Station has been forced to shut to the public more than 100 times already this year, as a result of staffing pressures, 1919 Magazine reports. The station at the top of Leith Walk has closed 49 times during back shifts, 22 times on early shifts, and 31 times on night shifts.
GOLF COAST: East Lothian has overtaken St Andrews as the country’s top golf property market. More properties sold for £500,000 or more in the county’s golfing hotspots of Gullane, Archerfield and North Berwick than in St Andrews in 2025, and so far this year, according to research by data consultancy HomeBench on behalf of buying agency Fyndd.
Your Pick of the (Cultural) Pops
Greetings, Pop Pickers!
The Edinburgh Fringe is looming larger than a shadow over Arthur’s Seat, and the immediate cultural calendar is staying quiet as venues batten down the hatches for the oncoming storm. Aside from some global megastars hitting the Castle rock for a series of titanic summer concerts - gigs which certainly don’t need my help to shift tickets - the pickings right now are pretty slim. Because of that, we’ve binned the honourable mentions for the second week running. I’d far rather give you a tight, killer chart of genuine belters than pad it out with filler just to make up the numbers! Not ‘arf!
Thankfully, what we do have has real pedigree, writes Will Quinn. We’ve still lined up five top-tier contenders to keep your diary buzzing, blending local musical triumphs, thunderous Irish feet, pristine cinematic suspense, and a city-wide musical takeover. Alright? Let’s get it on...
New in at Number 5 is... Everybody’s Talking About Jamie (Church Hill Theatre, July 16th – 18th)
This isn’t a stop on some relentless marquee national tour, pop pickers - this is a homegrown production from the dynamos at Find Your Light Productions! This vehicle for the talented students of the SJM Performance Academy and the Edinburgh Acting School is stepping into its third year, and the critical buzz surrounding their previous offerings suggests a company to watch. Yes, indeed! I expect a slick, thoroughly professional show here. Keep your eyes peeled for Fionn Cameron, who smashed it in Southern Light’s Guys and Dolls earlier this year, alongside rising drag scene star Cherry West, leading the charge. The show itself might be narratively light, but if it’s a deluge of cracking song & dance you’re looking for, you’ll find it!
Staying at Number 4 is... Hitchcock 4K Restorations: Vertigo (Filmhouse, Sunday) With Rear Window now done and dusted, our big-screen gaze turns completely to the second half of this glorious classic double-bill. Speaking honestly, the intro and Q&A wrapped around Rear Window last week were nothing to write home about, but the sheer joy of seeing a pristine, sparkling remaster of a Hitchcock masterpiece on the big screen was unmistakable! Vertigo is the ultimate psychological head-trip. Watching Jimmy Stewart’s retired, dizzy detective spiral into complete madness and obsession over Kim Novak across the gorgeous, colour-drenched hills of San Francisco on the big screen is the stuff of cinematic bliss. I’ve already got my ticket for Sunday - see you in the stalls!
Staying at Number 3 is... Marjolein Robertson: Clouds (WIP) (Monkey Barrel Comedy, Sunday)
“Marjolein Robertson’s star isn’t rising, it has risen. It’s powerful, bizarre, and hilarious in equal measure.” That was my verdict when reviewing her phenomenal 2024 hour O, and this Sunday she’s taking over the Monkey Barrel to road-test her brand-new work-in-progress show, Clouds. Catching even a top-tier comic sharpening her tools and tweaking the gags before the August festival madness kicks off is a risk, but trust me, she’s worth it! She has a knack for blending deeply intimate, traditional yarns and traditional storytelling with delightfully bizarre, out-of-the-blue punchlines. Seeing her construct this fresh material from the ground up could be the highlight of your Sunday evening.
New in at Number 2 is... Lord of the Dance: 30th Anniversary (Edinburgh Playhouse, July 16th – 19th). Taking the silver spot this week is an absolute juggernaut! Can you believe it’s been thirty whole years since Michael Flatley thumbed his nose at Riverdance and strode out to do his own thing? He turned traditional Irish footwork into a stadium-shaking, global phenomenon. Now, while the 69-year-old maestro has finally hung up his own sparkly shoes, he’s recruited a few exceptionally nimble Irish lads to take his place on the Playhouse stage. Look, don’t walk through the doors expecting a complex literary plot - Flatley’s prodigious talents are strictly limited to dancing, choreography, and being a decent boxer (back in the day). But do expect jaw-dropping choreography, dazzling pyrotechnics, and the thunderous precision of a world-class troupe putting on a masterclass in pure kinetic spectacle!
Right! Straight in at Number 1 is... Edinburgh Jazz & Blues Festival (Across the city, July 17th – 26th)
Crashing straight into the top spot is the colossal 2026 programme for the Edinburgh Jazz & Blues Festival! Often overshadowed by the hype of the Fringe that immediately follows it, this is a jewel in the city’s summer crown. It has all the international clout of the August festival, but comes with expert, discerning curation and—maybe the best bit—not a single sweaty, windowless basement venue! Over ten days and 100 stellar concerts, the highlights are mouth-watering. We’ve got legendary American avant-garde trio The Bad Plus stopping by on their official farewell tour, the powerhouse New Orleans street jazzers Tuba Skinny making their highly anticipated Edinburgh debut, and Louisiana blues sensation D.K. Harrell bringing his award-winning Talkin’ Heavy tour across the Atlantic. Throw in a celebratory tribute concert for the late, great Scottish jazz icon Brian Kellock, a beautifully curated ‘SPARK’ showcase of cutting-edge Dutch jazz, and the return of the free, sun-soaked (a boy can hope) Mardi Gras to the Grassmarket, and you’ve got a spectacular musical feast.
And that’s your Top 5! As the countdown to August ticks away, these five crackers will give you all the high-quality cultural fuel you need to tide you over. Get those tickets booked, back our brilliant local venues, and let me know what’s tickling your fancy in the comments below. Alright? Stay bright!
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The tourist tax is building cheap homes for city workers
Who will be at the front of the queue when they open their doors?
by Emma Newlands
Prospective tenants queuing down the street when a new block of flats opens in the city centre is nothing unusual. That comes with the territory.
What will be different at two blocks of flats due to open in Meadowbank and Fountainbridge in around 18 months time is that some of them - 111 to be precise - will be reserved for “visitor economy workers”.
This will be one of the first fruit’s of the city’s so-called tourist tax, officially the Visitor Levy, which is expected to generate up to £50 million a year by charging visitors an extra 5% on their accommodation bills.
Edinburgh has followed the example of some of the most pressurised tourist resorts in the world, from Alpine and North American ski resorts to Hawaiian beach destinations, by introducing subsidised public housing reserved for industry workers.
The city council has committed £5 million a year to the idea which will be used to kickstart developments comprising 472 affordable homes at Fountainbridge, Meadowbank and Coatfield Lane in Leith. As well as creating 361 social rented homes, the first two developments will include 111 homes for mid-market rent (MMR) which will be reserved for industry workers.
“Levy funds would, along with rental income, support the cost of borrowing, and free up resources within the wider housing budget for investment in more homes to address the housing emergency,” according to council documents.
It’s an idea which, as well as being threatened with potential legal challenge (which never ultimately materialised), has won widespread support.
James Garry, assistant director at conversation charity The Cockburn Association, told The Inquirer the principle behind the proposal to create homes for tourism workers is “understandable”. “Edinburgh’s visitor economy depends on people being able to live and work in the city, and the cost and availability of housing is increasingly affecting recruitment and retention across a number of sectors,” he adds.
