Find, save and share Public Notices that affect you in the area.
Search the Public Notice Portal What is the Public Notice Portal?What is the Public Notice Portal?
The Public Notice Portal carries statutory public notices published in local newspapers and is the fastest and most effective way of finding out what is happening in YOUR neighbourhood.
Search the Public Notice PortalRECENT articles in the Courier highlight concern when a home is turned into a short-term let (STL).
A housing emergency has been declared nationally and in East Lothian. Each STL is a home lost to the housing stock.
STLs have immediate impacts for neighbours, but also for community resilience, local economy, housing and retention of key workers.
Research found economic benefits are greater for residential use than STL.
In North Berwick, most STLs lie empty for over half the year, with no one using shops, amenities, services or clubs, and in some streets, the community has been hollowed out.
It is hard to find a flat to rent in the town and this translates into a shortage of staff for care homes and social care, and, ironically, for hotels and restaurants.
STLs are now widespread across new housing developments and ex-council houses in North Berwick, and the number is increasing fast in Musselburgh and elsewhere.
STL owners pay no council tax or business rates, yet they use council services such as waste collections.
STLs are very seasonal, not just because of summertime but because owners avoid VAT by limiting rental income.
Most are not dedicated tourist businesses. They simply seek to make a capital investment and some income but avoid taxes.
More STLs should concern East Lothian Council (ELC), who want to increase the number of overnight stays in East Lothian, but at the same time relieve our housing emergency and support the local economy.
Although hundreds of new houses have been built in North Berwick, the number of STLs has risen in the same proportion.
The school roll has fallen, meaning the new sports hall that was anticipated in 2016 was never built. Instead, education commandeers the town sports centre and the whole community loses out on access to proper sports facilities.
Planning permission is not always needed for STLs. A control area for STLs should be introduced within the forthcoming Local Development Plan 2.
This would require all STLs to have planning permission before getting a licence to operate, and would allow both communities and ELC housing to put their case to retain homes.
Alison Clark
North Berwick
Send your letter to editorial@eastlothiancourier.com
Share