Placemaking and sustainability at the heart of Edinburgh City Plan, and holiday let investors should take note

The City Plan 2030 is now with City of Edinburgh Council for review.  The Plan sets out proposals for provision of much needed housing in Edinburgh in the next 10 years, and it is clear that the Council’s focus will be on sustainable development that keeps the needs of the local community at its heart.

A number of brownfield sites throughout the city have been designated for new housing development, having been prioritised over greenfield locations.  The proposals include commitments to higher energy efficiency standards in new build homes and support for mixed use developments that provide local amenities and create employment. 

The goals are laudable although developers will be apprehensive; there are a myriad of legal and practical complications that can arise when dealing with brownfield sites and the Council are also proposing to increase affordable housing provision for new developments (35% up from 25%) which will impact the bottom line and would have the potential to disproportionately affect smaller developers. 

In practice, the Council may not be entirely relying on new development to ensure the Edinburgh housing market is accessible to locals, and that might become a concern for buy to let investors with short term holiday lets. A hot topic for some time now – with one third of all short term lets in Scotland found in Edinburgh – the Council is separately consulting on whether all short term lets should require specific planning consent, a move which would give the Council significant control over holiday let investment in the city. 

It remains to be seen how the Council will approach new controls over the short term let market, but the focus on local community and placemaking in the City Plan may signal a less tolerant approach in future.