The Scottish government has announced that it plans to reassess aspects of its plans for a licensing scheme for short-term lets.

Shona Robison, Scotland’s minister for housing and local government, has written to the Local Government, Housing and Planning (LGHP) committee with a list of proposed revisions to its draft short-term lets licensing order.

The government intends to introduce a licensing scheme in response to problems caused by the growth in Airbnb-style lets in urban areas, but the UK Short Term Accommodation Association (STAA) has welcomed the proposed changes in relation to short-term lets licensing.

Shomik Panda, director general of the STAA, commented: “The STAA welcomes the decision by the Scottish government to reconsider some aspects of its proposed licensing regime.”

“Throughout the engagement process for these proposed regulations, which has been ongoing for a number of years, we have suggested practical and pragmatic improvements to the legislation which we believe will help to strike the right balance between protecting communities and allowing legitimate businesses to operate as they have always done.

“We believe that the changes that the Scottish Government has announced today are a positive step in the right direction, although we will continue to push for further improvements for our members, including a grandfathering provision and auto-renewals of licences.

“We look forward to continued engagement in Scotland, to build the best set of regulations that we can for all.”