Short Term Lets Licensing Statistics Scotland to 31 December 2025
Statistics on short-term lets applications in Scotland
Part of
Licences in operation: premises type, type of let and accommodation information
As Table 4 shows, most licences in operation relate to secondary lettings (78%; type of let) and houses (64%; premises type), with the most common premises being a detached house. This is a very similar profile to validated applications.
Table 4: Licences in operation as of 31 December 2025, by type of premises and type of let.
| Licences in operation as at end December 2025 | % Licences in operation as at end December 2025 | |
|---|---|---|
|
Total licences |
32,317 |
|
|
Type of short-term let |
||
|
Home sharing |
3,354 |
10% |
|
Home letting |
2,106 |
7% |
|
Home sharing and letting |
1,726 |
5% |
|
Secondary letting |
25,131 |
78% |
|
Type of premises |
||
|
Detached house |
13,157 |
41% |
|
Semi-detached house |
4,562 |
14% |
|
Terraced house |
2,988 |
9% |
|
Self-contained flat |
8,988 |
28% |
|
Unconventional dwelling |
2,622 |
8% |
Notes:
- Data from Table 13 in the supporting Excel tables
Tables 14 and 15 in the supporting Excel document show the number of licences in operation by each local authority, by type of premises and type of let. Like applications received and validated, the local authority breakdowns show some variations in the proportions of types of premises across different local authority areas, some of which may reflect different underlying profiles of total dwellings in each area.
Overall, at least 87,718 bedrooms and a total maximum occupancy of 171,768 people were reported in the licences or exemptions in operation.
Fife reported the highest average number of bedrooms per licence (4.0) with the lowest reported as Edinburgh (1.9). A very high number of bedrooms was reported in Angus, but was thought to a misreport.
West Lothian reported the highest average maximum occupancy per licence (7.1) with the lowest reported as Glasgow (3.6)
Accommodation units are the number of independently rentable spaces covered by a licences (for example different rooms in Bed and Breakfast). Information has been provided for 98% (31,818) of the 32,317 licences or exemptions in operation, equating to a total of 39,440 accommodation units. Excluding authorities with fewer than 10 total records with accommodation information, authorities with the highest average number of accommodation units per licence in operation were reported in East Renfrewshire (2.8 units per licence).
Table 16 in the supporting Excel file has accommodation information for each local authority.