Report rejects Highland-wide limit on Airbnb-style lets

Individual areas of Highland Council should be left to make decisions on whether to limit Airbnb-style lets, says a new report.

Officials were asked to investigate the potential of a Highland-wide control zone on short-term lets as a way of tackling a shortage of homes across the region.

In the report, they said analysis suggested there would not be region-wide support for such a scheme and recommended a more “tailored approach” where area committees decided on any measures.

The Highlands have one control zone at the moment, covering Badenoch and Strathspey, and the report said it has had a “slight impact” on rates of short-term lets.

The analysis also suggested high rates of short-term lets in some parts of the Highlands, including Skye and Raasay, Lochaber, Wester Ross, Strathpeffer and Lochalsh and Inverness.

The report said across Highland 6% of potential dwellings were licensed as short-term holiday lets, but in some places the rates were as high as 30%.

The officers said: “Rates of short-term lets are continuing to grow in a majority of Highland communities, covering a wider geographic area than those with high rates of short-term lets already.

“Around 5% of new housing completions across Highland within the last five years are now licensed short-term lets, although rates in some areas are higher than this.”

They added: “Having said that, at this time, the evidence would not suggest that the option of a Highland-wide short-term let control area would be supported.

“An approach that is more tailored to where the greatest concentrations are would seem more appropriate.”

Councillors are due to consider the report at a meeting on Thursday.