Highland Council is going to ask the Scottish Government for a rent control zone in Badenoch and Strathspey.
Local members say the area is experiencing a housing crisis and the council must take action.
Convener Bill Lobban claimed it’s ‘near impossible’ to afford a home in the area, with some one-bed flats selling for £220,000.
The council voted to ask ministers to make Badenoch and Strathspey a short-term let control area.
Public consultation split 50/50
However, the plan is not without its critics.
Highland Council ran a public consultation over six weeks from January to March 2022.
It attracted 332 responses but opinion was divided, with 42.99% in favour and 42.99% against. Another 8.84% said they weren’t sure if the controls should go ahead.
Air BnB, the Association of Scottish Self-Caterers and Cairngorm Business Partnership all objected to the plan. They claim the council’s evidence base is shaky, and point out that it did not do an economic impact assessment.
Councillor Andrew Jarvie spoke against the plan. “If I was a short-term let operator in Badenoch and Strathspey I’d be really worried,” he said.
Mr Jarvie said the council should get on with building new homes, instead of “tinkering around the edges” with rent controls. And he warned: “The vast majority of these policies blow up in local authorities’ faces.”
Mr Jarvie tabled an amendment asking council to review the plan after a year, but councillors voted 43 to 20 against the review.
Many said one year was not long enough to assess the effects.
Rent controls are a ‘balancing act’
Several members – including Mr Jarvie – said the council needs to strike a careful balance. It must help local people to enter the housing market without damaging the tourist industry.
That balance is precarious – and the results of the consultation show that. Almost half of the responses came from short-term let operators. Private individuals made up 52% of replies.
Economy chairman Ken Gowans noted that a third of respondents don’t live in Highland and 42% don’t work here either.
He added: “This is an opportunity to make this area more sustainable by helping people to live and invest their lives within local communities.”
Badenoch and Strathspey councillor Muriel Cockburn pressed the point, saying: “We responded to the pleas from residents and some businesses regarding the dire availability of affordable accommodation.”
Ms Cockburn says she hopes the legislation will correct a shift in balance away from local people towards tourist operators.
Housing market in ‘meltdown’
Members from other areas also spoke in support. Councillor Calum Munro referenced falling school rolls and staffing difficulties in Skye, another tourist hotspot.
Mr Munro said if council waited to collate all the evidence, it could be too late. “By that time our rural communities will have been hollowed out.”
Mr Lobban agreed. He said the council is already building homes, but even one-bed flats in Aviemore are selling for £220,000 for short-term lets.
Although Mr Lobban said there’s “no possible way” for locals to afford that, half of people surveyed said they had no trouble renting or buying.
However, more than a quarter said they had difficulty.
Mr Lobban said the legislation is not about second home ownership – it’s specifically about controlling the high number of rental properties in the area.
“The balance is already far too far in the wrong direction,” he said. “Housing in Badenoch and Strathspey is not in crisis, it’s in meltdown.”
Councillors voted to press ahead with the rent control area for Badenoch and Strathspey.
Tourist operators will also have to apply for a licence for short-term lets following new laws that come into effect in October.
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