Council bosses are planning to introduce a short-term let control area for much of Perthshire.
The zone would require property owners to get planning permission before they can turn homes into holiday rentals and let them out via platforms such as Airbnb and Booking.com.
And it’s hoped the move could help safeguard accommodation for locals in towns like Pitlochry and Aberfeldy.
The proposed zone would cover all of Highland Perthshire and parts of Eastern Perthshire too.
More than half the applications for short-term let licence applications in Perth and Kinross are coming from these areas.
However, they also have the highest proportion of second homes.
And critics say rising house prices and a lack of affordable housing are making it increasingly difficult for people to live and work there.
If the short-term let control area is approved, it could be operational by the middle of next year.
Will Perthshire follow Edinburgh and Highlands down short-term let control area route?
The Scottish Government gave councils the power to introduce short-term let control areas in April 2021.
They require owners to obtain planning permission as a part of the licence to let out their properties.
And councils can use housing need in their consideration of applications, along with other planning matters.
So far, just two have been created – in Edinburgh and in Badenoch and Strathspey.
Perth and Kinross Council has already consulted the public on the suggestion.
It received a total of 334 responses, including 224 from residents and 95 from business owners.
More than half (53%) were in favour of a short-term let control area.
The pressures were discussed earlier this year as the council approved plans to redevelop a number of public buildings in Pitlochry to create affordable housing.
Locals say a shortage of housing is causing major difficulties when it comes to the recruitment and retention of teachers, health and social care staff and other key workers.
Employers are also having to bus in staff from miles around because there are no homes locally.
In Aberfeldy, 10% of homes are listed as second homes, compared to 1% in Perth and Kinross as a whole.
And another 13% are short-term lets, against 2% for the whole of Perthshire.
‘Not a ban on short-term lets’
Perth and Kinross Council introduced a short-term let licensing scheme in 2022.
Anyone letting out their property to paying guests must now have a licence.
But currently only flat-owners are explicitly required to apply for change of use planning permission as well.
Of the 1,124 licence applications the council received before the register closed last October, 53% were from Highland Perthshire.
Another 17% were in Greater Perth, 14% were in Eastern, 13% were in Strathearn and 2% were in Kinross.
The short-term let control area proposal will be considered by the council’s environment and infrastructure committee on Wednesday.
A report to the committee says: “The introduction of a short-term let control area would help to achieve a better balance between supporting the provision of visitor accommodation, and the protection of future housing supply within a defined area.”
It goes on: “It is not a ban on short-term lets. Rather, it enables full consideration of each STL application through the planning process.”
Conversation