Short term lets

The Scottish Government has introduced Short Term Lets Licensing under legislation approved by the Scottish Parliament in January 2021.

Update

Due to the upcoming deadline for existing hosts to apply for a Short Term Lets licence by 1 October 2023 the Council is experiencing a high volume of queries. Existing hosts who submitted their applications and have paid their fees by 1st October 2023 can continue to operate until their application is determined, new hosts require to be licensed before operating. We would be grateful if applicants did not contact us for progress updates.

If you have received a confirmation e-mail from us when your application was submitted we have received your application, we will be in touch with you as soon as possible as we work through the high volume of applications.

Please be aware the Council has up to 12 months to process applications for existing hosts and 9 months to process applications for new hosts. All hosts, who have not already applied, will be considered to be New Hosts from 1 October 2023 and will require to be licenced before operating.

Short-term lets: regulation information - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

How to apply for a short-term let licence - mygov.scot

All short term let properties in Scotland will require a licence. This is to ensure they are safe and the people providing them are suitable. The Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982 (Licensing of Short-term Lets) Order 2022 came into law on 1 March 2022.  

Licences

There will be four types of Short Term Lets Licences:

secondary letting - a short-term let involving the letting of property where you do not normally live
home letting - using all or part of your home for short term lets whilst you are absent
home sharing - using all or part of your own home for short term lets whilst you are there
home letting and home sharing - hosts principal home

What we are doing

The licensing scheme will require all licenced short-term lets to comply with mandatory conditions which will apply across Scotland. Dumfries and Galloway Council will check that the premises are compliant with all conditions.

Dumfries & Galloway Council established a Short Term Lets Licensing Scheme from 1 October 2022
On 01 March 2023 the Scottish Parliament approved the date that existing hosts and operators will have to apply for a licence changed from 1 April 2023 to 1 October 2023
All short-term let properties will require a license by 1 January 2025.

Fees

Licensing authorities are required to charge fees in respect of processing and determining, the consideration of applications. The fees are calculated on a cost recovery basis and are reviewed periodically. Currently they are:

		Full 3 Year Licence
Maximum Number of Guests	Home sharing and home letting licence	Secondary letting licence	Renewal - Home sharing and home letting licence	Renewal - Secondary letting licence
Up to 6	£275.28	£302.81	£189.45	£208.40
7 to 12	£306.05	£336.75	£210.58	£231.64
13 +	£350.84	£385.85	£252.60	£277.86