NEW powers handed to councils to control short-term lets, such as Airbnb, could cause a 'flood' of licensing applications, a lawyer has warned.

Expert Stephen McGowan, partner and head of licensing in Scotland at UK law firm TLT, said introducing licensing schemes could lead to a "massive rush" of applications, causing issues for licensing administrations.

Scottish Government Housing Minister Kevin Stewart announced last week licensing schemes can be rolled out from spring 2021 to help councils understand short-term lets in their area, improve safety and assist with handling complaints.

A Glasgow City Council spokesman said it was too early to know the impact the new powers would have.

READ MORE: Glasgow City Council handed short-term let powers with more control over Airbnb

Mr McGowan said: "According to the government’s own research, there are 32,000 properties registered with Airbnb alone in Scotland.

"Assuming local councils enact a new licensing scheme to regulate short-term lets, which seems likely, each of these properties, should the landlord wish to continue to operate it as a short-term let, would require a licence and operating without one would become a criminal offence.

"It is also not yet clear how far the scheme will go in terms of capturing what might be called non-typical residential style lets, such as holiday lets, self-catering facilities and more traditional B&B style accommodation, which could push the numbers up higher.

"The government has made it clear that safety will be a mandatory consideration, which I take to mean that the properties will have to undergo a HMO style inspection. This means costs for landlords in ensuring their properties meet these regulations as well as the costs associated with compliance.

"Beyond that, there are no “grandfather rights” proposed and each new application will go through the same process as other civic licences. This means possible objections, hearings for all applications, and the ability to refuse applications not just on the fitness of the property but also the person who wishes to hold the licence, such as having regard to convictions.

"Provision will need to be made to deal with the impact of such a magnitude of applications on local authority resources.

"A massive rush of applications of this order could bring licensing administration to a halt, and have a knock-on effect on reporting obligations with Police Scotland and other authorities such as Fire and Building Standards, who will likely have to comment on each application. This could impact on processing times for other types of civic licence."

The city council spokesman said: "Further detail on what might be involved in a licensing regime for short-term lets will be required before we can make a proper assessment of what impact there will be on our licensing service."