Hospitality Scotland has written to the Scottish government calling for a mandatory registration and licensing scheme for short-term letting.
Responding to a consultation on the matter, UKHospitality executive director for Scotland Willie Macleod, pictured in the middle, said, “Home-sharing and short-term letting platforms continue to operate at an unfair advantage, arguably sometimes at the margins of the law, and the time has come for mandatory registration. The rise in popularity of home-sharing platforms has revolutionised tourism and hospitality and has provided a huge amount of choice for consumers. That is to be welcomed but those who wish to let rooms should do so in compliance with the law.
He continued, “A registration and licensing scheme would help local authorities enforce rules, which are designed to keep people safe. There is also the potential for people to abuse the system as things stand. By acting in bad faith they can avoid the restrictions other businesses comply with and are estimated to deny the taxman hundreds of millions of pounds. Everyone ought to play by the rules. We don’t want to take away choice for customers or prevent people from letting their room. We want a fair and level playing field for everyone and that’s why we need a registration and licensing system.”