Scope: Scotland. Cited to Scottish instruments throughout. This is a civic licensing scheme made under the Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982, not a housing licence, and it has no counterpart anywhere in England and Wales legislation.
Our compliance check now covers Scotland, and so does the fine calculator. Enter a Scottish postcode and both answer in Scots law, cited to Scottish instruments — the check with your council’s registration and HMO position where we hold it, the calculator with the Scottish maximum for each offence and, where the consequence is not a fine, what it actually is. Still England and Wales only: the tenancy agreement checker, whose findings come from England and Wales statutes.
What the scheme is
The Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982 (Licensing of Short-term Lets) Order 2022 (SSI 2022/32) made short-term letting a licensable activity across the whole of Scotland. Every local authority was required to open a licensing scheme, and since 1 October 2023 a licence has been needed to operate.
The critical structural point: this is civic licensing, made under the 1982 Act, which is the same statutory family that licenses taxis and street traders. It is not housing licensing. That is why it catches accommodation the housing regimes would never reach — a spare room, a caravan, a treehouse — and why holding a landlord registration or an HMO licence does nothing for you here.
What counts as a short-term let
Broadly, the use of residential accommodation provided by a host in the course of business to a guest, where the guest does not use it as their only or main residence and payment is involved. The definition is deliberately wide.
Excluded, among others, are accommodation provided in someone’s only or main residence for the purpose of a private residential tenancy, certain hotels, and accommodation provided to an immediate family member. Read the exclusions in the Order rather than assuming yours applies.
The four licence types
| Type | What it covers |
|---|
| Home sharing | Guests share your own home with you while you are there. |
| Home letting | Your own home let out while you are away from it. |
| Home sharing and home letting | Both of the above, under one licence. |
| Secondary letting | Letting a property that is not your only or main residence. This is the classic buy-to-let-turned-holiday-let case. |
Choosing the wrong type is not a formality. Secondary letting is the type that attracts the closest scrutiny and the type most likely to run into planning.
Licensing is not planning, and this is where schemes die
A short-term let licence does not grant planning permission, and a licensing authority may refuse or delay where planning is unresolved.
Separately, a council may designate a short-term let control area. Inside one, using a dwellinghouse for secondary letting is deemed to be a material change of use, so planning permission is required as a matter of law rather than as a matter of judgement. Edinburgh’s is the best known. Check whether the address sits inside a control area before you buy, because the answer changes the business case entirely.
Licence conditions
Mandatory conditions attach to every licence and cover the things a guest cannot check for themselves — among them gas and electrical safety, fire safety measures, furniture fire safety, an EPC where required, and adequate insurance. Authorities may add their own conditions on top.
How it interacts with everything else
- It is not a substitute for landlord registration. The two schemes cover different activity. If you also let residentially, you need registration as well.
- It is not an HMO licence. A property can require both.
- A genuine short-term let is not a Private Residential Tenancy, because the guest does not occupy as their only or main residence. Getting that boundary wrong in the other direction — treating a resident tenant as a short-term guest — is far more dangerous, because a PRT cannot be ended except through a Schedule 3 ground.
Information tool, not legal advice. Scottish law only.
Common questions
Do I need a licence to run an Airbnb in Scotland?
Almost certainly yes. The Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982 (Licensing of Short-term Lets) Order 2022 made short-term letting licensable across the whole of Scotland, and a licence has been required to operate since 1 October 2023. There are four licence types and the one you need depends on whether you are sharing your own home, letting your own home while away, or letting a property that is not your main residence.
Does a short-term let licence give me planning permission?
No — they are separate consents. A licensing authority may also refuse or delay where planning is unresolved. And inside a designated short-term let control area, using a dwellinghouse for secondary letting is deemed a material change of use, so planning permission is required as a matter of law. Check whether the address is in a control area before buying.
What is secondary letting?
Letting a property that is not your only or main residence — the classic case of a flat bought or converted to run as a holiday let. It is one of the four licence types, it attracts the closest scrutiny, and it is the type most likely to require planning permission inside a control area.
Do I still need landlord registration if I have a short-term let licence?
They cover different activity, so holding one does nothing for the other. If you also let residentially in Scotland you need landlord registration under Part 8 of the Antisocial Behaviour etc. (Scotland) Act 2004, and if the property meets the three-person test you may need an HMO licence as well.