VRMA Administrator
A plan to regulate short-term rentals in Edinburgh has been ruled unlawful by a judge less than four months before it was due to come into force. Opponents of the scheme took the city council to court last month. They raised £300,000 through crowdfunding for a judicial review at the Court of Session, which was said to be largest amount raised for a case in the UK. The case centered on a presumption against allowing entire flats within tenement blocks to be used as holiday lets unless their owners could demonstrate why they should be exempt. The judge ruled that the presumption was unlawful and that the lack of provision for temporary licenses and requirement for some hosts to supply floor coverings went beyond the council's powers. He said the policy was unlawful because it breached existing laws on what licensing authorities could do under the law.
BBC News (06/08/23)
