@lornaslater talking a load of rubbish.This is the problem with ideologists who show a lack of integrity, intelligence, & most of all, EVIDENCE. I wish that Gull had got in, he'd be making more sense by now than LS on self-catering! #SAVESC @SaveSCScotland bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m002xg…

What does the evidence actually say about Short-Term Lets (STLs) in Edinburgh? The narrative is that STLs are hollowing out communities, causing widespread nuisance, and driving the housing crisis. The licensed STL register and council data tell a more nuanced story. 📍@Edinburgh_CC claimed to there were 12,000 STLs. The current licensed register shows: • 5,640 licensed STLs in total, of which;
• 2,300 secondary lets (entire property)
• 1,271 home lets
• 872 home shares
• 1,197 home let & share 👉Most licensed STLs are not entire properties dedicated solely to tourism, and there are far fewer than claimed 📍Are STLs "hollowing out communities"? The register shows: • 331 buildings have more than one secondary let
• 975 secondary-let licences across those buildings
• That's an average of fewer than 3 per building The biggest concentrations are serviced apartment blocks: • Western Harbour Midway (25)
• 129 High Street (13)
• Thistle Street SW Lane (11)
• 27 Home Street (11)
• 9 South St Andrew Street (11)💰💸💴These large serviced-apartment developments were approved by Edinburgh Council itself. Many owned by foreign investors, and there are more coming 💰💸💵🤔 👉If community cohesion is being affected, the evidence points more towards purpose-built serviced apartment blocks than small, locally owned short-term lets. 📍What about "party flats"? Of 11,000 noise complaints recorded in 2009, only 41 were linked to short-term lets. More strikingly, 22 of those 41 complaints came from a single property. 👉That suggests a very small number of problematic operators rather than a city-wide STL nuisance problem. 📍What about the housing crisis? There is still no clear evidence that Edinburgh's STL restrictions have: • Increased affordable housing supply
• Reduced rents
• Reduced house prices At the same time, hundreds of council-owned homes remain empty and uninhabitable. 📍The licensing regime was intended to improve safety and regulation. Instead: • Many operators have left the licensed market and are operating illegally 
• Compliant operators who applied for planning permission have faced very high refusal rates- easier targets for @Edinburgh_CC 
• Only 12 enforcement cases have reportedly been referred/actioned Questions remain about whether the system is achieving its intended objectives. 📍📍Meanwhile, Edinburgh Council has spent around £400k of taxpayer’s money defending STL policies in court, losing multiple legal challenges, with further litigation expected 📍📍 Public policy should be evidence-led, proportionate, and focused on genuine problem properties rather than broad assumptions. The data suggests Edinburgh's STL debate is more complicated than the headlines. The real challenge may be balancing tourism, housing and community interests without targeting responsible operators who are not causing measurable harm. #SaveSC @thecockburn @PLACEEdinburgh @bbcandrewpicken @deadlinenews @vickimillerVS @adamtomforrest @CBI_Scotland @SCOTOnetwork @stephenjardine @briandonnellyHT @collarbrodies @licensinglaws @stvnews @stvsharon @montaukian @mediawummin @RhodaFMorrison @donaldturvill @heraldscotland @bbcscotlandnews @edinburghpaper

@edinburgh_CC @Scotgov "This property has identified that it does not require a short-term rental license or registration" Odd? Is this the black market moving upmarket? A better quality of unlicensed operator? #SaveSC @ASSCnews

Not only do @Edinburgh_CC ignore industry experts on VL, but then they go & deliver a totally unworkable % model - @EdinburghLabour Meagher has no clue! Self-catering on its knees thanks to botched policies - black market thriving! @ASSCnews #SaveSC independent.co.uk/travel/new…

0.7% of Edinburgh STLs are licensed and professionally run. Rather than tackle the thriving black market they have created, @Edinburgh_CC are shutting down the compliant ones who are easier to find. What will be left when we are all gone? Do you really think there will be no housing crisis, no troublesome STLs? #SaveSC

It's time people joined the dots. @Edinburgh_CC is actively axing local self-catering operators & brownfield site is going to foreign investors to build apart hotels & student accommodation. This is a conscious policy. Apart hotels good, local operators bad. #SaveSC @ASSCnews

Feels like pushing treacle uphill. Right now we’re tackling: • NDR reform unfair evidence demands • Rising water charges • STL licence inconsistencies • Planning policy not backed by evidence • Visitor Levy implementation • Political engagement ahead of elections Daily work. Constant pressure. Real impact. It shouldn’t be this hard. Regulation should enable, not hinder. Still pushing. @ASSCnews assc.co.uk/industry-news/adv…

@Edinburgh_CC's axing existing operators. If people wonder why prices are crazy, it's because supply is being strangled. There are many reasons people do not want to stay in hotels. With under 1% of all housing allocated for full-time self-catering this will be an own goal.

There’s a clear inconsistency in criticising self-catering businesses for generating income from property while personally benefiting from property investment. That undermines the credibility of the Greens argument. #SaveSC

@EdinburghGreens @ETAG_UK @EdinburghLibDem @Edinburgh_CC @EdinburghLabour @EdinburghTories @ASSCnews #SaveSC  @scotlibdems @BrianDonnellyHT @EdinInquirer @ianswansonen @DickinsEdin #SaveSC @FSB_GarryC @scottishlabour @ScotTories @theSNP @murdo_fraser @djohnsonmsp @willie_rennie

This has been going on consistently ever since the introduction of short-term licencing for legit local S/C operators. We've a two-tier system where law breakers operate with impunity & those who abide by the law are shut down using Machiavellian means. #SaveSC @Edinburgh_CC

In #Edinburgh well under 1% of property makes up secondary lets, what we used to call full-time self-catering. Yet, despite their huge economic benefit to our city, they are being hunted & killed for sport at @Edinburgh_CC, while dodgy below the radar operators flourish. #SaveSC

So now shower singing = proof of holidaymakers? Cities have always had visitors. Short-term lets support local jobs, local businesses and tourism. Let’s stop blaming guests for housing problems they didn’t create. edinburghlive.co.uk/news/edi… @FionaCampbell74 @SaveSCScotland

We had a Festival guest who stayed every year for 7 years. Last year we couldn’t give him a booking far in advance as we didn’t know if we could operate. He booked a hotel. Didn’t enjoy it and he and his family are not coming this year @SaveSCScotland @_KateForbes @VoteEwing

@thesnp STL Licensing regime now impacting the Edinburgh Festival with a 40,000 drop in visitors. Loss of income to the local economy will be millions. Over regulation has economic consequences. @MairiMcAllan @_KateForbes scotsman.com/arts-and-cultur…

All for laws but what happens if you bring in a law and dont enforce it. The law abiding pay the price and no one benefits

Here we go again. Legit licensed self-catering being axed by @edinburgh_CC while black market gears itself up for another year of bumper biz. Unlicensed, unsafe & deeply unfair on those trying to play by a one-sided rulebook. #SaveSC

I asked AI for a sarcastic comment on Edinburgh City Councillors with a planning focus........ omg....... hilarious and so accurate. Even AI know what a bunch of eejit charlatans we're dealing with. 😂 @SaveSCScotland @ASSCnews @FionaCampbell74 @marramgrass252 @Edinburgh_CC

@Edinburgh_CC has created a black market where none existed by aggressively axing existing previously legal self-catering (<1% of all housing) that spent a fortune to comply, yet a black market goes unchallenged with tiny costs & low risk of fines. Where is the justice? #SaveSC

Read a summary of testimony given to the @WelshGovernment on the failure of #STLlicensing introduced by the @scotgov #SaveSC @st_alliance @ASSCnews @MCrothall @FionaCampbell74 docs.google.com/document/d/1…