What correspondence it has exchanged with the City of Edinburgh Council regarding the operation of houses in multiple occupation legislatio…

The City of Edinburgh Council has confirmed that it does not consider antisocial behaviour amongst tenants of holiday lets to be a widespread problem in the city and that it considers existing powers to tackle noise nuisance sufficient for dealing with disturbances caused by occupants of holiday lets.
However, the Scottish Government is aware of the council''s concerns that the definition of an HMO (house in multiple occupation) may not be sufficiently closely drawn and that in some cases landlords may be evading HMO licensing requirements by claiming that properties are being let on a short-term basis, and that residents have principal residences elsewhere.
We will be considering the options for implementing the HMO provisions in the Housing (Scotland) Act 2006 later this year. The issue of short-term lets and what types of accommodation require to be licensed under those provisions will be part of our discussions with stakeholders. However, the Scottish Government has no plans to extend HMO licensing to genuine holiday lets.