Control Area

We are seeking Control Area status for Plockton & District

Good news

On 3 November 2025, the Wester Ross, Strathpeffer and Lochalsh Area Committee agreed to consider Short Term Let Control Area designation for all or part of the Ward 5 area.

A report to the Committee provided evidence that the housing market within the parts of the area is subject to significant pressure, exacerbated by high rates of potential dwellings being converted to short term lets.

"We welcome the Area Committee's decision. It opens the door for a thorough review of the issues and meaningful community consultation. In 2022, we assessed that one-third of local properties were not primary residences. Following unanimous support at a members' meeting, we formally requested Highland Council to consider control area status for Plockton & District. This is a big step forward."

Mary Jane Campbell

PCDT Chair

The success of websites such as Airbnb and booking.com has resulted in a large rise of houses being used for temporary holiday accommodation, i.e. short-term lets.

The Scottish Parliament recently passed legislation in response to concerns about the impact of short-term lets on local communities and on the supply of housing in some areas. This includes a licencing scheme for all short-term let operators and provisions for councils to establish short-term let control areas to manage the number of short-term lets in a locality.

At a members’ meeting on 24 November 2022, in Plockton Village Hall, there was unanimous support for the Trust to make a case to Highland Council for our area to designated as a short-term let control area.

Who determines control area designations?

The legislation allows The Highland Council as a planning authority to designate all or parts of thier area as one or more control areas. Control areas might be designated for one or more of the following reasons:

to manage high concentrations of secondary letting short-term lets
to restrict or prevent short-term lets in places of types of buildings where it is not appropriate
to ensure that homes are used to best effect in an area

Relevant indicators include:

lack of affordable housing for local residets
detrimental impact on local amenity, with some businesses, schools and other services that are relieant on a local workforce

The Highland Council is required to consult on a such a proposal and obtain approval from Scottish Minsters prior to designating a control area.

Why are we making a case for control area status?

The impacts of the growth in short-term lets is being felt now.

The Trust is motivated to act, to stem the loss of dwellings to commercial holiday lets. We want to strengthen our community by growing the number of year-round residents.

We recognise tourism as a mainstay of the local economy and that some short-tem lets provide an income form local resitdents. However, we cannot ignore the growth of the short-term let market with much of the income being extracted from the local economy. We need a sustainable tourism sector and consider the proliferation of short-term lets in recent years as a threat to local services for visitors and tourists alike.

My life in the Highlands and Islands (HIE, 2022)

Respondents from Lochaber, Skye and Wester Ross to the My Life in the Highlands and Islands survey (Oct 2022) reported the following stark statistics:

90% consider there to be a shortage of housing generally

90% said that local people can’t afford to buy local housing

85% feel that too many houses are bought as second homes

81% were concerned about houses used as holiday lets

"Plockton & District is at the sharp end of the statistics listed below. In our community council area one-third of dwellings are not lived in. Only about 5% of housing is available as private long-term rentals.

Together with a high cost of housing this makes it very difficult for young people to stay or for incoming workers to find accommodation.

Without action we will sleepwalk into a housing crisis – some think we are already in one."

Sandra Holmes

PCDT Chair (2020-2023)

Skye Connect - survey of businesses in Skye & Lochalsh 2022

56 Degree Insight surveyed the housing needs of businesses on Skye 7 Lochalsh. They estimated there are currently between 1,300 and 1,700 positions difficult to fill due to housing and accommodation issues. Reasons for this are given as:

house prices have increased beyond reach due to the buying power of people from outwith the area
a reduction in the stock of long-term rental accommodation due to more being used for short-term lets, and
increased bureaucracy for long term landlords and planning constraints slowing the development of new homes

Lochalsh Collaborations Community Survey 2022

Finally, and closer to home, second only to road infrastructure, housing was the next priority in the recent Lochalsh Collaboration’s Community Survey (2022).

Again, lack of affordable housing and the need for controls on holiday houses and holiday lets were noted, with the link between the two being cited.

The largest number of holiday home comments came from Plockton.