Scottish Ministers have approved two new short-term-let control areas covering Inverness and large parts of the rural Highlands, moving one of the region’s most closely watched housing policies towards implementation in April 2027.
The decision, issued on 26 October, follows months of public consultation and consideration by Highland councillors. It will give the council greater control over future conversions of residential properties into short-term holiday accommodation within the designated areas.
However, the next stage raises questions beyond planning permission. How much permanent housing can the measures realistically protect, which properties will be affected, and how will their success be measured?
Highland Council’s Economy and Infrastructure Committee is scheduled to consider the final designation arrangements on 12 November. Councillors will be asked to approve publication of the statutory notices and a commencement date of 1 April 2027.
The Inverness City control area will cover Inverness West, Inverness Central, Inverness Ness-side and Inverness Millburn, together with parts of Inverness South, including Westhill, Milton of Leys and Slackbuie.
The wider Highland Rural control area will encompass Lochaber, Wester Ross, Strathpeffer and Lochalsh, Sutherland, Skye and Raasay, Aird and Loch Ness, and parts of Inverness South, including Tomatin and Daviot.
The scale is significant, covering communities where visitor accommodation provides an important source of income but permanent housing remains difficult to secure.
Highland Council argues that additional planning oversight is necessary to prevent further losses from the residential housing stock. Its position received substantial support during the public consultation conducted in May and June.
More than 800 responses were received. The council reported support of 84% for the Inverness City proposal and 72% for the Highland Rural proposal among resident and business respondents.
Councillor Ken Gowans, chair of the Economy and Infrastructure Committee, has emphasised that the intention is not to stop holiday letting but to ensure future residential conversions are properly examined through the planning system. The control areas will not impose a general prohibition on holiday accommodation. Nor will their introduction automatically require every existing operator to obtain new planning permission.
Instead, future conversions from residential use to secondary short-term letting within the designated areas will require planning consent. Properties already being used for short-term accommodation remain subject to the planning requirements applicable to their individual circumstances, including any permission that should already have been obtained under existing law.
For property owners, the practical implications may depend on the history and established use of the building.
That is one of the issues raised by Gunta Freidenfelde, founder of Highlands Perfect Stay, an independent accommodation and property-management business working around Ardross, Alness and Inverness.
In written responses provided to Modern Scot on 26 October, Freidenfelde explained that the business currently manages five properties, including countryside visitor accommodation and accommodation in Inverness.
She cautioned against treating all short-term accommodation as though it had the same effect on the local housing market.
“It would be misleading to assume either that every holiday let could immediately become a permanent home or that holiday letting never affects housing supply,” she said.
Her point concerns the different histories and uses of buildings. A residential house converted into exclusive holiday accommodation presents a different planning question from a purpose-built visitor property or accommodation brought back into use after standing empty.
Freidenfelde also pointed to an example described on her company’s website involving a townhouse that had been standing empty before being prepared for a longer-term tenant.
The example illustrates another aspect of property management: bringing unused accommodation back into residential occupation. It does not establish a wider housing trend, nor does it demonstrate that holiday letting generally increases housing availability. It does, however, show why the previous use and circumstances of individual properties matter when examining changes in the housing stock.
The relevance of those distinctions will vary between properties and locations. The business’s accommodation across Ardross, Alness and Inverness should not itself be taken to mean that all five properties fall within the proposed control areas.
Freidenfelde accepts the argument for protecting permanent housing where availability is under pressure. Her concern is that regulation should recognise the particular circumstances of individual properties rather than rely on assumptions about the whole sector.
Highland’s existing licensing figures illustrate why that matters.
Scottish Government statistics recorded 8,284 short-term-let licences in operation across the Highland Council area at 31 December 2025, the highest total of any Scottish local authority.
That figure does not establish that 8,284 homes have been removed from permanent residential use.
The licensing system covers different forms of accommodation, including secondary letting, home sharing and home letting. The figures also cover the whole council area, rather than only the two newly approved control areas.
A short-term-let licence is principally concerned with whether accommodation meets the requirements of the licensing scheme. Planning permission addresses a different matter: whether the use of a particular property is lawful under planning legislation.
A property can therefore satisfy licensing requirements while still needing separate planning consent.
Freidenfelde said understanding that difference is essential before owners make substantial investments.
Her business assists owners with organising paperwork, preparing properties and managing compliance, although formal approvals and legal responsibilities remain with owners and the relevant authorities.
Highland Council’s published secondary-let licence fees currently range from £400 for accommodation with capacity for one or two guests to £610 for properties accommodating ten or more. Owners may also face costs associated with safety certification, insurance, maintenance, professional advice and any planning applications required.
For smaller operators, Freidenfelde said, the administrative work involved can be as important as the individual fees.
“The time spent coordinating these steps can matter just as much as an individual fee,” she explained.
She also identified the work generated by holiday accommodation beyond the booking itself, including cleaning, laundry, maintenance, repairs and property checks.
These activities can support local employment and trades, although the company has not supplied independently verified figures demonstrating its wider economic contribution.
The competing demands are particularly apparent in rural communities.
Tourism provides income for businesses and property owners, but workers and residents also require access to suitable, affordable homes. A community with substantial visitor accommodation can still struggle to house the people needed to sustain its schools, services and businesses.
The wider housing challenge is considerable. Highland Council’s updated Housing Need and Demand Assessment estimates a requirement for 31,848 homes over the next 20 years. In an accompanying employer survey, 65% of respondents identified housing shortages as a barrier to recruitment and retention.
Those findings demonstrate the scale of the region’s housing pressures, although they do not establish how much of the problem is attributable to short-term letting.
The circumstances of an Inverness apartment may be substantially different from those of a rural cottage. Shared entrances, parking and neighbouring properties can be important in urban areas, while distance from services, seasonal demand and maintenance costs may be more significant elsewhere.
Those differences do not eliminate the possibility of housing pressure in rural communities. In some places, limited new construction and competition for existing properties may make the loss of even a small number of permanent homes significant.
Freidenfelde argues that local circumstances should inform decisions while recognising the need to protect permanent accommodation.
“Protecting housing and supporting responsible tourism need not be treated as mutually exclusive,” she said.
The council’s decision will now establish a clearer planning requirement for future residential conversions within the designated areas. It does not, however, establish how many additional permanent homes will become available as a result.
That is a separate question requiring evidence over time.
The number of planning applications for new short-term-let conversions, the proportion approved or refused, changes in the permanent housing stock and local housing availability will all help establish whether the policy is achieving its intended purpose.
It will also be important to distinguish between preventing future losses of permanent housing and returning existing visitor accommodation to residential use. The new control areas are primarily designed to address the former, rather than automatically deliver the latter.
This limits what can reasonably be expected from the policy in its early years. Preventing a residential property from being converted into holiday accommodation does not create a new home, but it may preserve one that would otherwise have left the permanent housing market.
Equally, granting planning permission for a proposed holiday let does not necessarily mean that a suitable permanent home has been lost. The property’s established use and the circumstances of the application remain relevant.
The effects of the new controls may consequently take time to become visible.
For communities facing acute housing shortages, the principal test will be whether planning controls help retain accommodation that would otherwise have been removed from residential use.
For owners and operators, the test will be whether the rules are clear, proportionate and applied consistently to different kinds of property.
Ministerial approval has settled the question of whether Highland Council can proceed with the two designations. What remains to be established is how effectively those powers will protect housing without unnecessarily restricting legitimate visitor accommodation.
The answer will depend less on the designation itself than on the planning decisions made after it comes into force, and whether those decisions produce measurable improvements in the availability of permanent homes.
Sources
Committee to Consider 1 April 2027 Start Date for Short-Term Let Control Areas. Highland Council, 5 November 2026.
https://www.highland.gov.uk/news/article/17543/committee-to-consider-1-april-2027-start-date-for-short-term-let-control-areas
Economy and Infrastructure Committee — Agenda, 12 November 2026, Item 6, Report ECI/39/26. Highland Council, November 2026.
https://www.highland.gov.uk/meetings/meeting/5432/economy-and-infrastructure-committee
Highland Council Agrees to Submit Short Term Let Control Area Proposals to Scottish Ministers. Highland Council, 28 September 2026.
https://www.highland.gov.uk/news/article/17496/highland-council-agrees-to-submit-short-term-let-control-area-proposals-to-scottish-ministers
Strategic Housing Investment Plan Sets Out Plans to Help Meet Housing Demand. Highland Council, 4 November 2026.
https://www.highland.gov.uk/news/article/17540/strategic-housing-investment-plan-sets-out-plans-to-help-meet-housing-demand
Short Term Lets Licensing Statistics: Scotland to 31 December 2025. Scottish Government, 28 April 2026.
https://www.gov.scot/publications/short-term-lets-licensing-statistics-scotland-to-31-december-2025/pages/licences-in-operation-local-areas/
Planning Circular 1/2023: Short-Term Lets and Planning. Scottish Government, 17 May 2023.
https://www.gov.scot/publications/short-term-lets-planning/pages/4/
Short-Term Lets: Regulation Information. Scottish Government, updated 15 May 2026.
https://www.gov.scot/publications/short-term-lets/
Short-Term Let Licence Fees. Highland Council, updated 14 August 2025.
https://www.highland.gov.uk/short-term-lets/apply-short-term-let-licence/6
Written Responses to Modern Scot on Highland Short-Term-Let Controls. Gunta Freidenfelde, founder, Highlands Perfect Stay, 26 October 2026. Original correspondence supplied to Modern Scot.
Highlands Perfect Stay. Business website, accessed 9 November 2026.
https://highlandsperfectstay.com/
Highland Sends Two More Short-Term Let Control Areas to Scottish Ministers. Modern Scot, 30 September 2026.
https://modern.scot/highland-sends-two-more-short-term-let-control-areas-to-scottish-ministers/
Highland Councillors Back New Controls on Holiday Lets. Modern Scot, 3 August 2026.
https://modern.scot/highland-councillors-back-new-controls-on-holiday-lets/
