At the City of Inverness Area Committee yesterday, members agreed to progress the introduction of two STLCAs which the Highland Council’s Economy and Infrastructure (E&I) Committee will formally decide whether to progress to public consultation.

Leader of Inverness and Area, Councillor Ian Brown, said: “The decision made by members to recommend to E&I Committee to move forward to public consultation will enable officers to gather public feedback on the matters affecting the key wards identified as most affected. We all look forward to hearing more on that feedback in due course and would urge the public to take part in the consultation when it goes live.”

The regulatory process to designate a Short-Term Let Control Area (STLCA) follows three steps:

• notification and consultation
• submission to, and approval from, Scottish ministers
• followed by public notice of the designation. 

The next steps are that the E&I Committee take the decision to formally commence the process of evidence gathering and consultation findings and ultimately takes the final decision to designate any Short-Term Let Control Areas.

A briefing on the outcome of the STLCA public consultation will be reported back to Inverness Members.

The Association of Scotland’s Self-Caterers said the plan “scapegoats responsible local businesses” while doing nothing to address the real issues underlying housing challenges.

CEO Fiona Campbell added: “Until Highland Council can provide clear and unambiguous evidence that its existing control area is working in delivering measurable improvement in housing availability or affordability, and that it has not generated unintended consequences, then there should be no further expansion of this policy elsewhere in the Highlands, including this proposal for Inverness.”