Moray Council approves short-term let policy
A new short-term let licence scheme has been agreed by Moray Council’s Licensing Committee today (Wednesday 21 September 2022).
New provisions within the Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982 (Licensing of Short-term Lets) Order 2022 requires local authorities to introduce a scheme to license people who offer premises on short-term lets. This is a requirement and not an optional licence scheme.
The package approved in Moray includes an application form, guidance, fee proposals, procedure, templates and statement of licensing policy. The application package will be available on the licensing pages of the council’s website ready to take effect on 1 October 2022.
Existing operators have from 1 October 2022 to 1 April 2023 to apply for any necessary short-term let licences. Moray Council then has until 30 April 2024 to determine those licence applications. After 1 July 2024, it will be a criminal offence for anyone to operate a short-term lease without having the appropriate licence in place.
Any new operators, or existing operators who wish to let out new property, will have to apply for a licence after 1 October 2022 – and must obtain the licence before they can start to take bookings.
Chair of Moray Council’s Licensing Committee, Cllr Paul McBain, said: “Regulating short-term lets is a challenge but this application package will help property owners and managers navigate the new policy.
“The Scottish Government asked councils, as licensing authorities, to keep fees to a manageable level for businesses. Therefore, the fees in Moray represent the cost of processing the licence.
“The ultimate goal is to develop a fully-online licence process that will be automated as far as possible. I’d urge applicants to wait for the online aspect to be released before submitting their applications, but to be prepared for the changes coming.
“I also commend the licensing team for pulling this policy together in a relatively small amount of time.”