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Frank McAveety MSP Convenor - Public Petitions Committee Scottish Parliament EH991SP

3 February 2010

Dear Frank,

Consideration of Petition PE1249

The issue of holiday lets is one that continues to negatively affect local residents in , who, through no fault of their own are subjected to antisocial behaviour, weekly disturbances and an overall reduction in their quality of life. Before Christmas, I contacted a number of constituents who have asked for help in coping with problems caused by party flats. My constituents reported that the situation had remained the same with incidences of noise nuisance, littering, overcrowding and antisocial behaviour continuing to impact negatively on daily life.

At a meeting on 26 August between the , City of Edinburgh Council and Lothian and Borders Police, it was agreed that:

- the council and police would consider a more proactive approach to difficult cases including round-table meetings with affected parties and owners; - the council and police would draft and circulate advice notes to affected residents outlining what action can be taken and who to contact when experiencing problems with party flats; the Scottish Government, council and police would meet again to discuss the approach to party flats.

I am not aware of any of the above action points being completed or progressed and I have asked the Council for an update with regard to this, to date, I have not received a response. My understanding is that the Council has set up a short life working group but councillors have held back on considering the issue of holiday lets or party lets as the Scottish Government are deliberating on the subject and will be consulting local authorities on the issue. It would be worth the committee asking for an update from the Scottish Government to find out whether the Scottish Government are intending on producing a consultation or any action on the subject.

I note the comments in a letter, dated 3 November, from Roger Harris, Head of Private Sector Policy Delivery at the Scottish Government to Fergus Cochrane, Clerk to the Public Petitions Committee. Mr Harris advises that the Scottish Government 'firmly believes that the most effective approach is to take early action to address the underlying causes of antisocial behaviour' (para 2.) Whilst no one can doubt the merits of prevention and early intervention in addressing the causes of antisocial behaviour, this approach lends itself to a longer term strategy which would target known antisocial behaviour perpetrators over an extended period of time. This approach is not applicable to the problems associated with holiday lets as the perpetrators are only resident in a community for 1 or 2 days.

Sarah Boyack MSPfor Edinburgh Central TheScottishParliament,EdinburghEH991SP • tel: 0131 3485751 • fax:0131 3486829 • e-mail:[email protected]• web:www.sarahboyack.net PE1249/M

Antisocial Behaviour Notices (ABNs) can be issued to landlords where a tenant I occupant is engaging in antisocial behaviour. However, Mr Harris states that: 'we think it is unlikely they would be used for holiday lets, given the timescales involved in the ABN Process".

It is clear that landlords, who irresponsibly and deliberately rent out their properties to large groups of people subsequently causing an unacceptable level of disruption to local residents, need to be held to account. A brief look at the websites offering such properties will show that there is still a great deal of money to be made from renting out flats for example for stag and hen weekends. The status quo in which local residents are currently powerless and at the mercy of landlords who abuse the loophole in the current HMO legislation can not continue.

I would therefore urge the Public Petitions Committee to keep this petition open as the Scottish Government and City of Edinburgh Council continue to look at how the negative issues and problems caused by party flats can be resolved.

Yours sincerely,

SARAH BOYACK MSP

SarahBoyack MSPfor EdinburghCentral TheScottishParliament,EdinburghEH991SP • tel: 01313485751• fax:01313486829 • e-mail:[email protected]• web:www.sarahboyack.net