East Lothian planners are considering introducing short-term let 'control zones' as hundreds of owners are given a six month deadline to register their properties across the county.
Councillors this week agreed to introduce a £390 fee for a three-year licence to operate the Airbnb-style holiday homes at a meeting of East Lothian Council's cabinet.
And it heard planners had carried out a public survey gathering people's opinions about the number of short term lets in towns and rural communities as it considered whether control zones were needed.
READ MORE: East Lothian holiday let owners operated for seven years without permission
Michaela Sullivan, head of development, told the cabinet meeting: “They have also had information given to them from a group in North Berwick who think that there are more short term lets than have been recorded.
"We would be helped in decision making by knowing how many short term lets are registered so it will probably be towards the summer that we would be in a position to recommend one way or the other.”
Cabinet was told at least 300 owners were expected to register their short term holiday lets once legislation is introduced by Scottish Government on October 1 and will have until April to apply for a licence.
The council's legal adviser Carlo Grilli said: "We don’t know what the full extent of the applications will be at present, as this is new to us, but our research on a conservative basis would suggest we will be receiving approximately 300 applications.”
Cabinet agreed unanimously to introduce the initial three year licence at a £390 fee.
East Lothian Provost John McMillan expressed concern that the legislation was being rushed through as a "universal" policy questioning whether a more 'thoughtful' approach should have been taken.
He said: "It is a piece of legislation that I think, had there been more time, had it not been during the pandemic, we might well have done more and could have been more thoughtful in our approach. There may have been other alternatives.”
However council leader Norman Hampshire said the local authority was playing catch up with a business which already had a foothold in the county and needed to act.
He said: "Airbnb, the short term lets, have evolved and they are already operating in East Lothian. We are trying to catch up with a business that is already operating.
"It is not the ideal way to put things in place but we need to do something to make sure these businesses are well supported, they are in big demand, but we need to make sure things are safe for the people who use them and protect owners who own their properties.”
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