Airbnb properties in Inverness increase by 80 per cent over five years
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There has been a sharp increase in the number of Airbnb properties available across Inverness over the past five years according to new data.
The figures from AIRDNA, a leading provider of data and analytics for the short-term rental industry, show that in May 2018 a total of 613 properties were available to visitors to the Highland capital through the holiday rental company.
In May of this year that figure had risen 80 per cent – to 1870.
As the Inverness Courier has been working to shine a light on problems caused by undersupply of housing in the city and the wider Highland region, for many the rise in people letting out properties as short-term holiday homes is totemic.
Dan Wilson Craw, deputy chief executive of Generation Rent – a campaign group for renters – said: “The growth of holiday lets is making it impossible for people to afford to live in much of rural Scotland.
“The lack of homes and rising rents are pushing out people who grew up in these places and forcing people who work in local businesses to commute from far away.
“It’s just not sustainable.
“We hope new measures like the short-term let licensing scheme and plans to give councils more powers over council tax will reverse the free-for-all we’ve seen in recent years, and encourage property owners to bring homes back into the residential sector.
“But there’s more that could be done – the Highland Council should establish more control areas, while the UK government needs to scrap tax breaks on mortgage interest that holiday let operators currently enjoy.”
The Scottish Government’s Short Term Rent License regulations introduced last year make it mandatory for hosts of such properties to apply for a licence before accepting bookings or receiving guests.
However, it has been argued by some that controls should go even further, in the form of short-term rental control areas where councils can restrict or prevent short-term lets that affect the availability of residential housing and the character of the local community.
Currently being pursued for the Highland Council ward of Strathspey and Badenoch local councillor Bill Lobban hopes other Highland Council wards will follow suit.
“The basic problem with Strathspey and Badenoch is that we have a purely tourist-based economy so we do short-term lets,” he said.
“However, we need a balance, as there is nowhere for local people to live. Businesses are crying out for staff and have to close.
“We have plenty of jobs, but we have no one to fill them as there is nowhere to live.
“This issue affects a huge majority of the Highlands, but a short term control zone would be for local members to take forward.”
On the other side it is argued that more people are choosing to make their properties available for short-term let due to a string of Scottish Government policies that make longer term letting less attractive including a freeze on rent increases above three per cent at a time of high mortgage rates, and a ban on evictions.
Inverness Courier columnist Colin Campbell spoke about the issue recently.
“New legislation is heavily biased against those who rent properties, with a freeze on rent increases beyond three per cent at a time of steeply rising mortgages being one factor,” he said.
“But the absolute killer for the rental market has to be the ludicrous stance taken by government ministers in their ‘ban on evictions’. Tenants are now legally able to run up an extraordinary six months arrears in rent before owners can even start thinking of trying to take any action.
“Is it any wonder some people are giving up on renting, either by selling the property they own or switching to the Airbnb sector?”
One AirBnB operator in Inverness has defended the service he provides as a legitimate part of the Highland tourist offering.
The man, who did not want to be named, said: “For a variety of reasons some people don’t want to stay in a hotel or a B&B when they come on holiday. They want the relative freedom and flexibility of having a ‘home from home’ for a few days and I’m lucky to be able to provide that to them.
“If tourism is a vital part of the Highland economy - and I believe it is - then this self-catering, short-term accommodation option has to be seen as another, important part of that sector.
“And by the way, yes, I make money from visitors using my property, but you should not forget that the people staying in the home I provide also, while they are here, use local shops, eat in local restaurants, drink in local pubs and all the rest of it.
“In terms of the lack of suitable, affordable homes in the Highlands I also don’t think that cracking down on this relatively small sector is going to make a siginficant difference.
“It’s looking in the wrong place to solve what is a much bigger problem.”
A spokesperson for AirDNA also claimed the stark figures for the numbers of short term let properties available hide a more complex picture.
“Short-term rental supply is highly flexible, and listings can go on and offline from month to month, and be available for anything from a weekend while the owner is away to a few months of the year,” they said.
“In Inverness, about 53 per cent of listings are available what we would call full-time, that is, more than half of the year (181 days).”
And they added: “Many holiday homes which previously sat empty most of the year are now renting out while the owners aren’t around, bringing tourism revenue to local businesses.”
