Short Term Lets Licences

The Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982 (Licensing of Short-term Lets) Amendment Order 2024

30 August 2024 - The above order is now in place regarding Provisional Licences and the procedure to Transfer Short Term Let Licences. For information please refer to How to apply for a short-term let licence - mygov.scot. or contact shortletslicensing@orkney.gov.uk .

Repairing Standard applied as mandatory from 1 March 2024

Short-term Lets premises are required to meet the Repairing Standard from 1 March 2024. The Scottish Government has published Guidance and we have updated our Guidance Notes and Short Term Lets Licence Application Annex E Checklist published in the Related Downloads section on this webpage.

Additional Standard Licence Conditions applied from December 2023

The Council's Licensing Committee has adopted an additional standard condition for all STL licences, requiring licence holders to provide specific gas safety information to guests. This followed recommendations contained in a Sheriff’s Determination from a Fatal Accident Inquiry after a student died as a result of carbon monoxide poisoning at a holiday cottage in Scotland. The condition is detailed on page 18 of the Guidance Notes provided in the Related Downloads section of this webpage.

The Licensing Committee also agreed that existing licence holders should be asked to provide the specific gas safety information information to guests. The additional standard condition will become a formal requirement for existing licence holders when they renew their licences. The Licensing Team will contact existing licence holders.

As the application deadline of 30 September 2023 (see below) passed, the Licensing Team received 300 applications for STL licences and have been checking through these. New applications have also continued to be submitted. If you have submitted an application or emailed us, we are aware of your contact and will respond to you as soon as we can.

The components which you need to provide for a full application are listed below as bullet points. If you have not yet provided us with all of the components, please do so as quickly as you can. We prefer to receive components by email (see our email address below). Your application cannot be processed until we have all of the components.

Please note (the last bullet point below) that you should not display a Notice at your premises until we ask you to do so (if you do, you will need to repeat this when we ask you to).

Some applicants have asked why their applications do not yet appear on the public Register (see below). Only applications which have been checked and are being processed appear on the Register. If you have submitted your application, but we have not yet told you that we can begin to process it, it will not appear on the Register.

The STL Licensing Scheme

Short-term let providers have been legally required to apply for a licence since the licensing scheme commenced across Scotland from 1 October 2022. New hosts need to have a licence before accepting bookings and welcoming guests. Existing hosts (those who operated prior to 1 October 2022) had until 30 September 2023 to apply. If you applied as an Existing Host by that deadline, you can operate before you have a licence by continuing to take bookings and receiving guests while your application is processed.  For more information and to check if you need a licence visit gov.scot/shorttermlets.

Know the information and documentation you may require ahead of making the application – it could save time in the long run.  After reading the guidance below you can complete the application form.  There’s also a raft of further information in the Related Downloads section on this page below, including a PDF version of the Application Form.

As a brief summary, to apply for a licence, you will need to:

• read our Guidance,
• complete an application form,
• pay an application fee,
• provide floor and location plans – refer to Annex C of our Guidance,
• complete Declarations by Owners if required - refer to Annex D of our Guidance,
• confirm that you are complying with the mandatory licence conditions by ticking a Checklist – refer to Annex E of our Guidance,
• complete a separate Fire Safety Checklist for the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service, available in the Related Downloads section of this webpage as an interactive PDF and
• display a Notice at your premises to advise passers-by that you are applying for a licence – there is an objection period of 28 days – you do not display this until the Licensing Team asks you to.

If you require further information please contact the team by emailor by calling 01856 873535

extensions 2246, 2232 or 2229 and leave a voicemail if officers are not available.

Court Ruling June 2023

A court ruling declared that parts of the proposed short-term lets licensing scheme in Edinburgh were unlawful, but this ruling did not have any implications for the licensing scheme in Orkney.

The court case was concerned with specific elements of the short-term lets licensing scheme in Edinburgh, including a rebuttable presumption against granting licences for secondary lets within tenement blocks, which the Court held to be unlawful. The elements of the Edinburgh scheme which the Court found to be unlawful form no part of the short-term lets licensing scheme in Orkney, which was unaffected by the Court’s ruling.

Guidance

• Frequently Asked Questions
• Guidance Notes
• Floor Plans
• Owners Declaration
• Checklist
• Notice for Display
• Display Notice Compliance Certificate
• Temporary Exemptions Policy
• Fire Safety Checklist

Further Information

Further information can be found here:

• Latest information about the regulation of short-term lets
• Current Scottish Government guidance for hosts and operators
• Visit Scotland Guidance
• Destination Orkney (requires membership registration)

Licensing Fees