Campaigners demand Highland Council repays hundreds of thousands of pounds after STL climbdown
Campaigners are demanding short term lets operators in the strath are reimbursed sums totalling hundreds of thousands of pounds after a Highland Council climbdown.
The local authority is having to make changes to part of its controversial STL control area policy for Badenoch and Strathspey which came into force on March 4, earlier this year, following their own review of legal advice.
In effect, the council had previously warned STL operators they would not be able to run their businesses in the strath without getting a change of use planning permission which had to be paid for.
But the authority has finally accepted this can not be applied as a retrospective blanket policy.
Hundreds of applications have been made - the majority for long-time STL properties - on the council’s instructions over the past two years.
Skye of Curr STL operator Paul Duke repeatedly flagged up to the council their interpretation of the Scottish Government policy was unlawful.
“I am so glad for the hundreds of people throughout the strath that will hopefully receive, in short order, their licences and any due compensation,” he said.
“I am one of the lucky ones in that I refused to pay the additional hundreds of pounds to the council that I suspected was being requested unlawfully.
“But the council must step up now and reimburse those people that did paid unnecessary fees - they need their money back.
“These people are ordinary folk who rely on short term let income. I trust the council will do the right thing by them."
Shelagh Musgrave, who operates an STL in Aviemore, said she had spent significant money to comply.
She said: “I have been jumping through hoops since early 2023 to get my application for a STL licence in, despite having run my small business for 11 years, and despite the house having never been a residential property since being built in 2007 - the previous owners also let it out.
“I have now been in touch with the council planning office and await their response as to the refunding of my £600.”
Campaigner Gordon Thomson, who runs an holiday let in Kingussie, said: “This has been one mammoth fight and many operators have given up.
“More than 70 per cent of operators are female - some single mothers, many retirees , predominantly micro businesses reliant on income to make ends meet.
“The mental stress by having threat of closure hanging over them has taken its toll. Nobody could obtain holiday let finance for their business as very few had licenses to show lender and then there were the costs.
“In my case I have paid out £1,800 in council fees, £360 for a public advert, architect fees of £300 - for each holiday house.
“I have asked for my fees back and I encourage all other operators to do so. So far the council has refused to repay.”
Strathspey MSP Fergus Ewing, a former Scottish Government rural economy and tourism minister, has been appalled by the situation.
He said: “It’s absurd and it led to needless delay and pointless expense. It used up valuable time of businesses and planning officials who have many far more important things to do.
“The law regulations and their non-implementation have been a total burach. The permissions were simply not being processed. One case I know of has been pending for over two years.
“This was just bureaucratic nonsense - no one gained and everyone lost.
“My warm congratulations to Fiona Campbell of the Association of Scotland’s Self-Caterers for her dogged pursuit of fairness for hard working small businesses.
“It’s utterly pathetic that the Scottish Government failed to step in when I asked them a long time ago.
“They really now need to step up to the plate to try to start supporting tourism businesses instead of over-regulating them out of existence.
“The next burach heading down the tracks is the tourism levy. Let me predict now that it just won’t work.”
Highland Council’s decision to review and update elements of their STL policy follows consideration of James Findlay KC’s recent legal opinion as well as their own legal advice.
The strath is only the second part of Scotland to bring in a STL control area after Edinburgh. The designation is aimed at freeing up more local housing and to help take the heat of the local housing market.
Highland Council is not budging
Highland Council is so far refusing to budge on repaying planning fees and additional costs to STL operators caused by their stance.
A spokesman said: “The council sought further legal advice on the construction of the legislation, which was not clear.
“It was open to interpretation which, as a result, caused differing approaches across local authorities.
“After seeking legal opinion, the position is accepted that whilst the council, as licensing authority, does have the authority to require an applicant to demonstrate that they have planning permission or have applied for planning permission as part of their licence application, this can only be requested when the council is confident permission would be required and not as a blanket policy.
“It must, however, be pointed out that any decision to proceed and process a licence application should not be taken as acceptance that an applicant has the correct planning permission in place…
“It is, therefore, in an STL operators’ interest to engage with the council’s planning service.”
