Self Catering Properties

Dwelling houses which are used for self catering holiday accommodation purposes can, in certain circumstances, be listed in the Non Domestic Valuation Roll instead of the Council Tax List.  The eligibility of such properties is checked on an annual basis.  It is the responsibility of the operators of such properties to provide evidence to the Assessor that the requirements have been satisfied for each financial year.

There is a time limit in law for providing evidence for each financial year.  The evidence must be provided by the later of 56 days after the end of the financial year to which it relates, or 56 days from the date the information is requested by the Assessor.  Any evidence received after this time cannot be considered.  Late evidence, or non-provision of evidence will automatically result in the property being removed from the Valuation Roll and becoming liable for Council Tax for the relevant year.

The legislative requirements from The Council Tax (Dwellings and Part Residential Subjects) (Scotland) Regulations 1992 (as amended) are:

1. The property is not the sole or main residence of any person.
2. The property is available for letting on a commercial basis, and with a view to the making of profit, as self-catering accommodation for short periods amounting in the aggregate to 140 nights or more in the financial year.
3. The property has in practice been so let in the financial year for a total of 70 nights or more of the period of 140 nights described in head (2).

This legislation is independent of any HMRC rules in respect of Furnished Holiday Lets and any local authority licensing requirement.

 

Financial Year – 2025/26

If your property meets the requirements for the first time during 2025/26, you may complete a declaration form and provide supporting information online at saa.gov.uk/self-catering.  Please note that you cannot apply in advance of meeting the requirements.

Where your property is in the valuation roll for 2025/26, you will be required to make an annual return including a declaration and supporting evidence.  You can complete the form online at saa.gov.uk/self-catering at the end of the financial year where the requirements have been met.  You do not need to wait for a request to be sent to you.  The deadline for submission of information for the 2025/26 financial year will be 27th May 2026, or 56 days after the Assessor sends you a request for the information (whichever is later).

 

Financial Year – 2024/25

The Annual Audit of properties in the Valuation Roll for the 2024/25 financial year will commence in early 2026 with requests for information being sent to the last known operator of each property.  If you have changed your correspondence address, please contact us on [email protected] to provide your up to date details.

This request for information has to be responded to, with sufficient information, within 56 days.  If no response is received by the deadline, or the information provided is insufficient, the Assessor must determine that the requirements are not met, and remove the property from the Valuation Roll, placing it instead in the Council Tax List from 1 April 2024.  ANY INFORMATION RECEIVED AFTER THE DEADLINE CANNOT BE CONSIDERED.

You do not need to wait for a request to be sent to you – you can complete a declaration form online at any time at saa.gov.uk/self-catering

 

Financial Year – 2023/24

The period for collecting evidence for the year 2023/24 has now closed.  No further information can be submitted for consideration. 

The Assessor is working through a large number of returns made in respect of this and future years.  Where it is decided that a property should be listed in the Valuation Roll, a Valuation Notice will be issued to the Proprietor/Tenant/Occupier of the property.  Where it is decided that the property will be listed in the Council Tax List, a Notice of Banding will be issued.

In carrying out the 2023/24 exercise, the Assessor sent requests for information on 19 August 2024 to the last known operator.  This had to be responded to, with sufficient information, within 56 days.  If no response was received by the deadline, or the information provided was insufficient, the Assessor had to determine that the requirements are not met, and remove the property from the Valuation Roll, placing it instead in the Council Tax List from 1 April 2023.

The Scottish Government considered feedback raised regarding the classification of self-catering holiday accommodation for the financial year 2023-24.    Following this, amending regulations were laid before the Scottish Parliament, and a new opportunity for evidence to be provided and/or considered in respect of the classification of self-catering holiday accommodation for the financial year 2023-24 was made available.  A final chance to evidence this to the Assessor was made available, with the deadline for submission of new evidence, or the request for existing evidence to be considered required before 6 December 2025.

The Scottish Government have prepared FAQs in relation to this process – these can be viewed by clicking below.

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Notes on the Requirements

The legislative requirements from The Council Tax (Dwellings and Part Residential Subjects) (Scotland) Regulations 1992 (as amended) are:

1. The property is not the sole or main residence of any person.
2. The property is available for letting on a commercial basis, and with a view to the making of profit, as self-catering accommodation for short periods amounting in the aggregate to 140 nights or more in the financial year.
3. The property has in practice been so let in the financial year for a total of 70 nights or more of the period of 140 nights described in head (2).

This legislation is independent of any HMRC rules in respect of Furnished Holiday Lets and any local authority licensing requirement.

Note 1 – Requirement that the property was available to let as Self-Catering Accommodation for at least 140 nights in the financial year. 

 The following information should be provided:

• Copies of booking calendars showing available nights.
• Reference to a website/online marketing and/or details of any other type of advertising.

Note 2 – Requirement to provide evidence that a minimum actual letting of 70 nights was achieved in the financial year.

 The following information should be provided:

• Copies (either electronically or by print) of evidence of actual bookings that have taken place, including dates, and the income received from each booking.
• Where any individual booking is in excess of 28 nights, please provide additional explanation of the reason for this stay.
• A copy of tariff information for low/mid/high seasons.

If you use an online letting agency (e.g. Airbnb, Sykes, Booking.com) they should be able to provide you with a summary of bookings. This summary should clearly show the periods of each booking. 

If you undertake self-advertising (e.g. your own website/social media/word of mouth) and have no other form of evidence showing the income received from each booking, then you should also provide:

• Copies of bank statements (redacting non-relevant transactions) that show payment transactions from customers in relation to these confirmed bookings.

Please note that any non-commercial lettings to family members and friends should not be included in the 70 night actual letting requirement.