{"id":617665,"date":"2025-12-07T09:46:30","date_gmt":"2025-12-07T09:46:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/617665\/"},"modified":"2025-12-07T09:46:30","modified_gmt":"2025-12-07T09:46:30","slug":"edinburghs-visitor-levy-housing-plans-could-face-legal-challenge-self-caterers-warn","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/617665\/","title":{"rendered":"Edinburgh\u2019s Visitor Levy housing plans \u2018could face legal challenge\u2019, self-caterers warn"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Edinburgh\u2019s<\/p>\n

The Association of Scotland\u2019s Self-Caterers (ASSC) has warned that the City of Edinburgh Council\u2019s decision to use Visitor Levy funds to build affordable homes risks breaching the law and could be open to legal challenge.<\/p>\n

On Thursday, members of the Council\u2019s Housing, Homelessness and Fair Work Committee approved plans<\/a> for a \u00a35 million Housing and Tourism Mitigation Fund, financed through the city\u2019s newly introduced Visitor Levy. The fund is intended to support the construction of 472 affordable homes between 2026 and 2029, with more than three-quarters earmarked for social rent.<\/p>\n

The Visitor Levy (Scotland) Act 2024 stipulates that revenues must be used for \u201clocal facilities and services substantially used by business and leisure visitors.\u201d The ASSC argues that long-term social housing does not fall within this remit and warned councillors in a written deputation that the proposals could contravene statutory limitations.<\/p>\n

Edinburgh\u2019s Visitor Levy Advisory Forum, which advises on how levy revenues are invested, had also sought clarity on whether housing investment was a legitimate use of the funds.<\/p>\n

Fiona Campbell MBE, CEO of the ASSC, said:\u00a0\u201cThe ASSC fully supports the delivery of more affordable housing but this is not the right way to go about it. The levy was meant to support visitor infrastructure and services, not fund housing projects.<\/p>\n

\u201cTourism businesses are once again being scapegoated for issues far beyond their making. It is deeply regrettable that Edinburgh Council now lays itself open to further avoidable legal and reputational damage.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ms Campbell urged the council to halt the plans until the legal risks had been properly assessed.<\/p>\n

Council leader Jane Meagher defended the initiative, highlighting Edinburgh\u2019s housing emergency and the strain on temporary accommodation.<\/p>\n

She said many workers in the city\u2019s visitor economy struggle to find affordable housing, while the use of bed and breakfasts as emergency accommodation reduces capacity for tourists.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s why it\u2019s so important that this new funding is being committed towards a Housing and Tourism Mitigation Fund,\u201d Meagher said. \u201cThis will ensure affordable homes are available for visitor economy workers in the city and means that bed and breakfast and hotel rooms can be used for their intended purpose \u2013 to welcome visitors to Edinburgh.\u201d<\/p>\n

Edinburgh\u2019s Visitor Levy scheme, formally agreed in January 2025, applies to paid overnight accommodation booked after 1 October 2025 for stays from 24 July 2026 onwards. The levy is set at 5% of the accommodation-only cost for the first five nights of a stay and is projected to raise up to \u00a350m annually.<\/p>\n

Funds are intended to be reinvested in initiatives that benefit residents and enhance visitor experiences, including city operations, destination management, culture and events, and participatory budgeting programmes.<\/p>\n

The housing investment remains subject to approval at the council\u2019s budget meeting in February 2026, with annual reporting to the Housing, Homelessness and Fair Work Committee.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Association of Scotland\u2019s Self-Caterers (ASSC) has warned that the City of Edinburgh Council\u2019s decision to use Visitor…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":617666,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8816],"tags":[748,1102,4884,712,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-617665","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-edinburgh","8":"tag-britain","9":"tag-edinburgh","10":"tag-great-britain","11":"tag-scotland","12":"tag-uk","13":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115677651716907266","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/617665","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=617665"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/617665\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/617666"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=617665"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=617665"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=617665"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}