Highland Council sets 1 April 2027 start for Inverness and rural short-term let control areas

The Highland Council has agreed to bring short-term let control areas for Inverness City and Highland Rural into force on 1 April 2027, after Scottish Ministers approved the two designations on 26 October 2026.

The decision was taken at the council's Economy and Infrastructure Committee on 12 November, where members noted Ministers' approval and agreed to publish a statutory notice of designation confirming the start date.

Once the areas take effect, any future conversion of a residential property to a secondary short-term let within them will need planning permission, the council said. The control areas will not apply retrospectively and will not prohibit short-term letting; existing operators continue under current arrangements unless planning permission would already have been required.

Cllr Ken Gowans, Chair of the Economy and Infrastructure Committee, said: "The introduction of STLCAs is not about stopping short-term lets, but about ensuring the future conversion of residential homes to short-term lets are properly considered through the planning system."

The two areas

According to the council, the Inverness City control area will cover the wards of Inverness West, Inverness Central, Inverness Ness-side and Inverness Millburn, plus parts of Inverness South including Westhill, Milton of Leys and Slackbuie.

The Highland Rural control area will take in Lochaber; Wester Ross, Strathpeffer and Lochalsh; Sutherland; Skye and Raasay; Aird and Loch Ness; and parts of Inverness South including Tomatin and Daviot.

Not every part of the region is included. When the committee agreed in February 2026 to consult on the two proposals, the council said the Caithness, Dingwall and Seaforth, Nairnshire, Black Isle and Easter Ross committees had opted not to proceed with designation for now.

Cllr Gowans said at the time: "We recognise that the impact of Short Term Lets varies greatly across the Highlands."

The consultation

The council ran a six-week public consultation from 12 May to 23 June 2026, which it said drew more than 800 responses from residents, businesses, communities and short-term let operators.

Proposal	Support among residents and businesses
Inverness City	84%
Highland Rural	72%

The council agreed in September 2026 to submit the proposals to Scottish Ministers, saying a further report would return to the committee after Ministers' decision to set out implementation arrangements, including potential start dates.

The housing case

The council set out its housing-market evidence when it launched the consultation. It said short-term lets account for more than 20% of all homes in parts of Inverness, Portree, Dornoch and Fort William, and that 13.6% of homes sold in Skye and Lochalsh between 2019/20 and 2023/24 became short-term lets.

In the proposed Highland Rural area, the council said 9.5% of houses built within the last five years now operate as short-term lets. It estimates about 24,000 new homes are needed across the Highlands by 2034.

The region already has one control area, covering Ward 20 Badenoch and Strathspey. The council's guidance page records that the whole ward became a designated control area at 12 noon on 4 March 2024, and the council said early indications suggest it has slowed the growth of secondary short-term lets there.

The legal process

Scottish Government guidance says Ministers' approval is required before a planning authority can designate a control area, and that planning authorities are not under a duty to designate them. At least 28 days must pass between publication of the designation notice and the changes taking effect.

Cllr Gowans said the gap before 1 April 2027 "will allow the Council to prepare appropriately for the change".

The statutory notice of designation is the next step, with the Inverness City and Highland Rural control areas due to take effect on 1 April 2027.