Proposed short-term lets control area frequently asked questions

The Scottish Government introduced a licencing scheme for short term lets (STL) on 1st October 2022.  This required all existing hosts (and any potential new hosts) operating short term let accommodation apply for a STL licence by October 2023 in order to continue operating, ensuring consistent safety and quality standards to protect guests, hosts, and communities.  There are different types of STL licences:

• Home letting - means using all or part of your own home for short-term lets whilst you are absent.   
• Home sharing - means using all or part of your own home for short-term lets whilst you are there.   
• Secondary letting - means a short-term let involving the letting of property where you do not normally live, for example a second home.  

A Short Term Let Control Area is a designated area where planning permission will always be required for any new change of use of a dwellinghouse or flat, which is not someone’s principal home, to a short term let. 

Currently, for existing short term let operators, planning permission may be required if the development is considered a material change of use. The designation of a Short Term Let Control Area does not change the existing planning requirements retrospectively for dwelling houses or flats that were already operating as short term lets before the Short Term Let Control Area came into effect.

A Short Term Let Control Area does not introduce a ban on short-term lets, or affect second homes, empty properties, or purpose built short term let accommodation.

Further information is provided on the Council’s webpage  - Planning advice on short term lets

In June 2026 the Council agreed to undertake a consultation on the designation of a Short Term Let Control Area:

The map below shows the extent of the proposed Short Term Let Control Area. This area covers the Housing Market Areas of 

• Mull and Iona; 
• Coll and Tiree; 
• Islay, Jura and Colonsay; 

• Oban Lorn and the Inner Isles

  ---

• Proposed short term let control area - interactive map
• Proposed short term let control area map (PDF)

Image

Argyll and Bute has long been recognised as an area with high demand and supply of tourism accommodation. The Area covered by the proposed Short Term Let Control Area experiences high concentrations of short-term lets. A Short Term Let Control Area would enable the Council to balance tourism growth with local housing need by managing concentrations of short term lets where this impacts housing availability or the character and amenity of neighborhoods, ensuring homes are used to best effect. It also can restrict or prevent short term lets in places or buildings where it is not appropriate.

In Oban, short term lets are predominantly self-contained flats. This has reduced the availability of housing for residents, and, in some instances, resulted in a detrimental impact on the local amenity, including complaints regarding noise and waste management. In more rural areas and in particular on the Islands, short-term are lets are more dispersed but represent a significant proportion of the housing stock in some areas. With fewer homes available, even a modest number of short-term lets can significantly reduce housing availability for residents. Despite the building of new affordable homes, homes lost to short-term letting are not quickly replaced. These pressures can have wider impacts on communities, including depopulation and declining school rolls.

The statement of reasons, including supporting evidence for the proposed Short Term Let Control Area can be found here - Statement of Reasons

The proposals are evidence-led, drawing on available national research, licensing data, property sales data and landlord registrations.

The Statement of Reasons outlines why the Council proposes a Short Term Let Control Area and also the justification for the geographical extent chosen. This can be found here - Statement of Reasons

The consultation will run for a period of six weeks - from 21st Sept to Midnight on 1st Nov 2026.

You can access the questionnaire here - 

Proposed short term let control area - consultation

We encourage all responses to be made online where possible.

Paper copies of the Short Term Let Control Area map and the Statement of Reasons will be available at the following Council Service Points / Offices within the proposed Short Term Let Control Area:

• Colonsay Service Point, Colonsay Resource Centre, Scalasaig, Isle of Colonsay, PA61 7YW
• Islay Service Point, Jamieson Street, Bowmore, Isle of Islay, PA43 7HL
• Jura Service Point, Jura Resource Centre, Craighouse, Isle of Jura, PA60 7XG
• Mull Service Point, Breadalbane Street, Tobermory, Isle of Mull, PA75 6PX
• Tiree Social Care Office, Unit 3, Tiree Business Centre, Crossapol, Isle of Tiree, PA77 6UP
• Oban Service Point, Lorn House, Albany Street, Oban, PA34 4AR

The documents are available for inspection free of charge during normal opening hours, throughout the consultation period.

If you are not able to access or use the website (for example if you do not have access to the internet) please contact the Development Policy Team by e-mail: ldp@argyll-bute.gov.uk and we will provide an alternative method for you to submit your comments or please contact the Council by phone on 01546 605522.

Short Term Lets and their impacts are spatially concentrated in particular areas. The Statement of Reasons sets out the justification for the geographical extent of the proposed Short Term Let Control Area. The Statement of Reason can be found here - Statement of Reasons

No. The Council currently does not have any Short Term Let Control Areas. 

Currently, planning permission is not always required for a change of use from dwellinghouses to Short Term Lets used for secondary letting. 

Following the designation of a Short Term Let Control Area there is a simpler arrangement as all new use (after the date of designation of a short term let control area) for Short Term Letting within dwellinghouses and flats which are not occupied as principal residences, will always require planning permission.

Whether a property is inside or outside of a Short Term Let Control Area, any change of use of a dwellinghouse to a Short Term Let which is currently (prior to the designation of any Short Term Let Control Area) a material change of use may still require planning permission. 

Further details on can be found here - Planning advice on short term lets. This outlines the factors and considerations that are used to determine whether permission is needed.

A Short Term Let Control Area only changes the planning requirements for new Short Term Lets converted from dwellinghouses and flats which are not someone’s principal home. 

A Short Term Let Control Area will not change the current planning requirements for second homes where no secondary letting is done (i.e. conversions of garden buildings, or accommodation built specifically for holiday purposes, such as pods, annexes and holiday chalets).

If an existing short term let already required planning permission because it was a material change of use, this position is unaltered by the designation of the Short Term Let Control Area. 

Further details on how the Council decides if planning permission is needed can be found here - Planning advice on short term lets. 

This outlines the factors and considerations that are used to determine whether permission is needed.

Existing Short Term Let operators will be able to contact the planning service by submitting a short term let development enquiry, where they will receive a view from the planning service as to whether their short term let is a material change of use. They will be advised whether they ought to apply for planning permission or a Certificate of Lawful Use if either is required. This service is currently under development and will be available at the time any Short Term Let Control Area is designated.

Once a Short Term Let Control Area is in force, operators applying for new or renewed short term let licenses will have to demonstrate that they 

• have planning permission in place, or
• have applied for planning permission, or
• do not require planning permission 

as part of the processing of their license application (compliance with mandatory condition 13).

Some operators will have this evidence readily available because they already required and secured planning permission before the Short Term Let Control Area came into force. 

Some operators will not have this readily available and should contact the planning service by submitting a short term let development enquiry where they will receive a view from the planning service as to whether their short term let is a material change of use. They will be advised whether they ought to apply for planning permission or a Certificate of Lawful Use if either is required. This service is currently under development and will be available at the time any Short Term Let Control Area is designated.

Currently as of May 2026, the fee for a change of use to a short term let would be £742 for a building of 100sqm or less, but higher fees apply for buildings larger than this as defined in Category 21 of the Planning Circular 1/2026: planning fees for applications, local reviews and appeals. 

For other forms of purpose-built short term lets (not involving a change of use), these fees are calculated differently, often according to Category 4 of the same circular above.

The fee is the same as would apply for an equivalent planning application.