FOI Request - Short-Term Let (STL) Licensing Costs and Income
Request 101003809444
1. Short-Term Let (STL) Licensing Costs
Please provide the total costs incurred by the council in administering STL licensing from its inception (October 2022) to date, by financial year. If available, please break down the costs by:
a) Staffing
b) Systems or IT
c) Legal advice
d) Training
e) Communication/marketing
f) Other overheads
2. Short-Term Let (STL) Licensing Income
Please provide total STL licence fee income, by financial year received during the same period, including:
a) Application fees (initial and renewal)
b) Any other income attributed to the STL scheme
c) Number of licences approved
d) Number of licences pending
e) Number of licences rejected
3. Cost Recovery Assessment
a) Has the council conducted a cost recovery assessment to ensure STL licensing is being delivered on a cost-neutral basis, in line with legislation?
b) If so, please provide:
i. A copy of the most recent assessment
ii. Any internal documentation, modelling, or reporting used to support this
4. Fee Income Use
Has any Short-Term Let (STL) licence fee income been:
a) Reallocated to cover unrelated council activities or
b) Used to cross-subsidise other licensing services?
c) If yes, please provide details.
5. Staffing & Structure
a) Is Short-Term Let licensing delivered through:
i) A dedicated STL team?
ii) A wider licensing team (e.g. civic, HMO, taxi)?
b) Approximate FTE staffing allocation to STL administration.
6. Centralisation or Shared Service Discussion
a) Has the council discussed or considered any shared service model or centralised approach to STL licensing (e.g. regional team, joint IT system, pan-council admin hub)?
b) If yes, please provide a brief summary or copy of any relevant documents, proposals, or meeting minutes.
Response 15-07-2025
1. Information not held in this format or breakdown. Information that is not held falls under Section 17 of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 - Information not held. The initial round of applications have been received and are being processed based on a 3 year licence. Therefore the majority of the income was received in the initial year but applications and work are ongoing. Some low- level income is still being received and costs will be spread over the initial 3 years (and beyond for ongoing applications), so there is no direct comparison. The Licensing Committee publishes an annual civic financial report here: http://www.moray.gov.uk/moray_standard/page_40047.html ('Licensing and Licences - Moray Council').
The financial report for the year 24/25 will be published later in the year.
2. a) There have been no renewals so far. This information is otherwise available – see register linked on this page: http://www.moray.gov.uk/moray_standard/page_140819.html ('Short Term Lets Licence - Moray Council'). The total income will be the total validated/issued licences multiplied by the individual application fee of £495 prior to 1/4/25 and £515 with effect from 1/4/25. Where applications are withdrawn a refund is generally given. Where an application is refused there is no refund.
b) None
c) This information is published and available on our website and is therefore exempt under section 25 of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002, information otherwise accessible. For ease of reference please find a link to the web page here: http://www.moray.gov.uk/moray_standard/page_140819.html ('Short Term Lets Licence - Moray Council')
d) This information is published and available on our website and is therefore exempt under section 25 of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002, information otherwise accessible. For ease of reference please find a link to the web page here: http://www.moray.gov.uk/moray_standard/page_140819.html ('Short Term Lets Licence - Moray Council')
e) This information is published and available on our website and is therefore exempt under section 25 of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002, information otherwise accessible. For ease of reference please find a link to the web page here: http://www.moray.gov.uk/moray_standard/page_140819.html ('Short Term Lets Licence - Moray Council'). – the register details the status of applications. It is unclear form the question whether “rejected” means refused or rejected as incomplete. In the latter case some will be marked as withdrawn on the register and some may not be recorded at all if they were never received in an acceptable state.
3. a) No - see 1 above
b) Not applicable
4. a) No
b) No
c) Not applicable
5. a)
i) No
ii) Yes
b) Not held. There is no dedicated STL administration team. Information that is not held falls under Section 17 of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 - Information not held. All staff undertake multiple tasks that include STL licensing. It is also unclear as to what is meant by “administration”. All staff within the licensing service have carried out work relating to STL licensing; however, the majority of the work is administrative in processing applications.
6.a) It is unclear what is meant by this question, in particular reference to a regional team and/ or a joint IT system. The STL process is controlled through the licensing service. The licensing service utilises an IT system that consultees (both within and outwith the Council) can access in order to view and respond to consultations.
b) Not held. Information that is not held falls under Section 17 of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 - Information not held.