In short: Beyond the confirmed Control Areas in Edinburgh, Highland (Badenoch and Strathspey), and East Lothian, several other Scottish authorities are publicly weighing the tool. This piece looks at which are most likely to move next, why, and what operators in the affected areas should be doing.
Short-Term Let Control Area designations in Scotland have been slower and more uneven than many predicted. Edinburgh moved first, Highland followed in Ward 20, and East Lothian designated a Control Area covering parts of its coast. Highland has since consulted on two further areas. Elsewhere, activity has been quieter, but not silent.
The authorities to watch
The following authorities have, in one form or another, either opened a consultation, referenced Control Areas in policy documents, or received elected-member pressure to designate. This is not an exhaustive list, and none of the authorities named should be taken as having committed to designation. It is a read of the landscape.
Argyll and Bute. The Council has referenced the Control Area tool in housing supply papers and has responded, in principle, to elected-member questions about designation in specific tourism-heavy wards. Pressure is coming from constituents in the Cowal peninsula and parts of Mull. A consultation would not be a surprise before year-end.
Fife. East Neuk in particular has become a focus of concentration concerns. Fife has not opened a consultation but has begun referring publicly to the Control Area tool. The politics of housing in the East Neuk suggests any move would be geographically narrow rather than county-wide.
Perth and Kinross. Highland Perthshire has attracted elected-member interest. The Council has been more cautious than Highland but the direction of policy discussion has clearly shifted through 2026.
Glasgow. Glasgow's regulatory posture has always been driven more through licensing and enforcement than through the Control Area tool. Whether that changes in H2 2026 or 2027 depends significantly on how the Council's more restrictive interpretation of Use Class 9 - which we have covered elsewhere - continues to develop.
Aberdeenshire. The interest here is narrower and concentrated on specific coastal wards. Any designation, if it comes, is likely to be focused rather than county-wide.
What designation would mean
Where a Control Area is designated, every change of use of a dwellinghouse to short-term let use in the designated area requires planning permission - the "material change of use" question is settled in the affirmative by the designation itself. That does not automatically mean permission will be refused, but it does mean an application is required, with all the cost, delay, and uncertainty that entails.
For an operator who does not currently hold a planning permission or a Certificate of Lawfulness, designation is a material change in position. The operator moves from being able to argue "no material change of use" to being required to apply and win on planning merits, in an authority now signalling that housing supply is a policy priority.
What operators should do
1. If you operate in any of the areas above, take advice on planning status now. Not after consultation, and not after designation. Now. 2. Prioritise a Certificate of Lawfulness where available. A Certificate secured before designation is unaffected by the designation. A Certificate refused after designation has a much harder path to appeal. 3. Where a Certificate is not available, take advice on planning permission. Applications made before designation are assessed against the pre-designation policy context, which is generally more favourable.
The consistent lesson from Scotland - now for the third year running - is that early action produces materially better outcomes than late action. That remains the case in the authorities named above.
Book a free consultation or start a Certificate of Lawfulness application.
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Ross Armstrong Head of Professional Services, STL Solutions
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