Comhairle nan Eilean Siar Council's Short Term Let Licence

Practical information about the Comhairle nan Eilean Siar Council's (formerly Western Isles) Short Term Let Licence process. To be read in conjunction with the information relevant to the process for the whole of Scotland.

Application form and documents

The Council's guidance is here.

You will need to complete either an online application form or a paper application form.

Please only choose one form to complete, you do not need to complete both.

You will be asked to submit the following documents:

• If you own your property jointly, or you don’t own your property, you need to ask the other joint owner(s) or owner(s) to sign a declaration;

• Scottish Fire & Rescue Services Fire Safety Checklist;

• Application form checklist;

• Legionnaires Risk Assessment Template;

• Floor/ Layout plan of the premises to include: Number of floors and number of requested guests, room sizes, any beds including type (i.e. bunk beds). Where rollaway/folding/sofa beds are used their location and footprint should be clearly detailed in the floor plan, any steps, stairs, elevators or lifts, location of any heat/smoke/CO detectors or other fire systems; any fires/wood burners.

• If there's a gas supply, current Gas Safety Certificate showing the property is safe to let;

• EICR dated within the last 5 years showing the property is safe to let;

• PAT report showing the property is safe to let, dated within the relevant time for the equipment at the property;

• Proof of Buildings Insurance cover for the holiday let;

• Proof of Public Liability Insurance for the holiday let;

• Records showing compliance with the Furniture and Furnishings (Fire Safety) Regulations 1988 - any furniture bought since then should have a label stating as such;

• EPC rating dated within the last 10 years.

Once you've submitted an application form you need to complete and display a public notice on or near your property where it can be easily read by the public for 21 days.

Fees

For details of the fees see page 19 of the Council's guidance note. The relevant fee for most of our owners is that being charged for secondary letting (ie. when you let out accommodation that isn’t your only or principal home) and so it is that fee to which we’ve referred in the table below:

• 1–2: £300

• 3–4: £350

• 5–6: £375

• 7+: £400

The numbers refer to maximum guest capacity.

Additional conditions specific to Comhairle nan Eilean Siar

There are additional licence conditions to comply with which apply to all short-term let properties including ensuring solid or liquid fuel fires or boilers are safe and arranging for an annual inspection and annual cleaning of the relevant chimney or flue.

There may be some specific additional conditions which may only apply to certain types of short-term let properties or to properties following investigation of concerns. The Comhairle will ask for information about specific items in the application process.

For further guidance on the additional licence conditions, see pages 4-5 of the Policy Statement here.