Planning circular 01/2021: short-term let control areas

1. Glossary

1.1. In this circular, the following terms are used:

“the 1997 Act”

means the Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1997;

“the Control Area Regulations”

mean the Town and Country Planning (Short-term Let Control Areas) (Scotland) Regulations 2021 (SSI 2021/154);

“GPDO”

means the Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) (Scotland) Order 1992;

“control area”

means a short-term let control area designated under section 26B of the 1997 Act, as amended by the Planning (Scotland) Act 2019;

“dwellinghouse”

means, for these purposes, an independent dwelling (with its own front door, kitchen and bathroom) being accommodation which ordinarily affords the facilities required for day-to-day private domestic existence such as a house, flat, cottage, see also Annex A;

“guest”

means a person occupying a property for the purposes of a short-term let;

“host” (or “operator”)

means a person or company providing accommodation for short-term lets;

“licensing scheme”

means the scheme established by the Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982 (Licensing of Short-term Lets) Order 2021 (SSI 2021/[xxx]);

“neighbour”

means, for our purposes, someone whose permanent residence is in close enough proximity to a short-term let to have a legitimate interest in its business, e.g. potentially affected by safety, noise, litter, nuisance;

“property”

means the accommodation (room, rooms or premises) let to the guest(s) as a short-term let;

“secondary let”

means the letting of a property where the host or operator does not normally live, for example a second home (and has the same meaning as in the licensing scheme);

“short-term let”

is as defined in the 1997 Act and regulation 2 of the Control Area Regulations, see also Annex B (and has the same meaning as in the licensing scheme);