The local authority is currently consulting on a Control Area covering Mull and Iona, Coll and Tiree, Islay, Jura and Colonsay, and Lorn and the Inner Isles.

In the area proposed as a STLCA in Argyll and Bute, up to 42% of housing is unavailable for use as a permanent home. 

Evidence shows that the concentration of short-term lets is contributing to significant housing market pressures for individuals, families and businesses. These include: loss of housing available for permanent occupation; affordability challenges; declining housing choice; recruitment and retention difficulties; risks to population and sustainability; and wide impacts on communities and public services. 

However, in a letter sent to councillors, MSPs and Scottish Government ministers, the Association of Scotland’s Self-Caterers (ASSC) has called for the proposals to be paused pending independent legal advice and full assessment of the consequences for existing businesses.

It contends that the council’s own papers expressly contemplate using planning and short-term let licence renewal to reduce the number of existing secondary lets. They acknowledge that “individual existing tourism businesses will be forced to cease operating”.

The ASSC says this goes far beyond controlling future growth and risks using a prospective planning power to retrospectively extinguish lawful businesses.

In August, the ASSC provided councillors and MSPs with a detailed legal briefing setting out why the proposed consultation was not fit for purpose. Jenni Minto MSP subsequently wrote to the council’s chief executive and the relevant cabinet secretary, highlighting concerns about the evidence base, retrospective impact and stated intention to reduce short-term let numbers.

ASSC representatives have also spoken directly to council officials. Despite this, the Association says there has been no meaningful engagement on the legal risks or safeguards required for existing operators.

Fiona Campbell MBE, chief executive of the ASSC, said: “We have written to councillors, MSPs and ministers, spoken directly to council officials and provided detailed legal and economic evidence. This has been entirely ignored.

“The council’s own proposals expressly anticipate established tourism businesses being forced to close. Our concerns are supported by Court of Session authority and detailed advice from senior counsel. They are not speculative or hypothetical.

“A Control Area is intended to manage future growth. It cannot lawfully be turned into a retrospective mechanism for removing established businesses through the interaction of planning and licence renewal.”

The ASSC references Muirhead and Dickins Edinburgh Ltd v City of Edinburgh Council [2023] CSOH 86, where the Court of Session rejected the proposition that Control Area designation retrospectively changes the planning status of an existing short-term let.

Senior counsel advice obtained by the organisation also confirmed that there is no general statutory basis for requiring existing operators to prove that planning permission was never required.

The Association warns that a blanket attempt to reopen the historic planning position of approximately 1,400 operators could be challenged on grounds including retrospectivity, irrationality, proportionality, predetermination, the Provision of Services Regulations and human-rights protections.

The ASSC also disputes the assumption that closing self-catering businesses would create affordable homes, noting no demonstrated evidence from the existing Control Areas in Edinburgh or Badenoch and Strathspey that they have increased the supply of affordable housing. Properties could instead be retained or sold as second homes, used privately or left vacant, it argued. Some are unsuitable for permanent residential occupation.

Independent analysis by BiGGAR Economics estimates that self-catering contributes approximately £33.5 million in GVA to Argyll and Bute annually and supports 1,136 jobs.

Around 70% of ASSC members are women, many running one or two properties as small family businesses. Self-catering provides flexible employment and financial independence in rural and island communities where other opportunities may be limited.

Fiona Campbell added: “These are not faceless units in a housing spreadsheet. They are people’s livelihoods, pensions, mortgages and family businesses. They are also the constituents whom councillors were elected to represent.

“We recognise the very real housing pressures facing Argyll and Bute, but a Control Area is not a silver bullet. It will not make homes affordable, reduce construction costs or bring empty properties back into use.”

Argyll and Bute Council said it “fully acknowledges” the importance of balancing local housing demand with the needs of a sustainable tourism economy - short-term lets, often referred to as self-catering, provide a valuable tourism resource and this needs careful consideration.

Councillor Jim Lynch, council leader and policy lead for the economy and housing, said: “Housing pressures are affecting communities, businesses and public services across Argyll and Bute. We have to consider all options available for addressing this important issue.

“At the same time, the area also needs accommodation for its visitor economy. This consultation is an opportunity to get involved in assessing a STLCA as a way to help balance local economic benefits with the need for homes for residents and workers in areas under the greatest housing pressure.”