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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.

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 late 2025 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 Annual Audit of properties in the Valuation Roll for the 2023/24 year is nearing completion.  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 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 2023.  Under current legislation, any information received after the deadline is not able to be considered.

Valuation Notices are being issued advising of properties which have been deleted from the Valuation Roll.  These properties will be added to the Council Tax Valuation List and Council Tax will be payable in respect of them from 1 April 2023.

The Scottish Government has recently been considering feedback raised regarding the classification of self-catering holiday accommodation for the financial year 2023-24.  Both the sector and local government have raised concerns about the removal of some self-catering properties from the valuation roll in the financial year 2023–24 where the requirements were actually met but evidence to this effect was not provided to the assessor or was not provided in time for the assessor to consider.

Having considered the matter, Scottish Ministers have agreed to lay amending regulations before the Scottish Parliament to provide 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.

For financial year 2023/24 the following criteria must have been met for the property:

  1. The property was not the sole or main residence of any person during the financial year 2023/24.
  2. The property was available to let for at least 140 nights in the financial year 2023/24.
  3. Evidence of 70 nights actual letting on a commercial basis, for short periods, with a view to the making of profit within the 2023/24 financial year must be provided to the Assessor.

If you would like to submit information for consideration ahead of the legislation change, you should send to me your written confirmation that the property was not the sole or main residence of any person and it was available to let for at least 140 nights between 1 April 2023 and 31 March 2024. In addition, you should also provide evidence of 70 nights actual letting on a commercial basis, for short periods, with a view to the making of profit. The following information should be provided:

  • A summary of the actual bookings
  • The dates of each actual booking
  • The income received from each actual booking

If you use an online letting agency, they should be able to provide you with the information stated above. If not, please supply as much information as you can that will satisfy the evidence requirement.

PLEASE BE AWARE THAT I AM UNABLE TO ACT ON THE INFORMATION AHEAD OF THE LEGISLATION BEING CHANGED.

You can return the required information as follows:

Email:  [email protected]

Post:     The Assessor, 235 Dumbarton Road, Clydebank, G81 4XJ

 

 

 

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.

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