Edinburgh 'bin tax' plans: Scotland's AirBnB lobby hit out

The move comes after local authorities across England started trying to claw back the costs of picking up rubbish from entire properties rented out as holiday accommodation through websites like AirBnB and booking.com.

South of the border councils are increasingly taking the view that anybody operating a short-term let of a whole home should be treated as a business - not a resident - and charged for waste removal as such.

However, Fiona Campbell, chief executive of the Association of Scotland’s Self-Caterers (ASSC), said her members in the capital were already contributing to both the economy and local council finances.

In a statement issued through a PR firm called Halogen, she said: “Our professional members have been a longstanding presence in communities for decades and take their responsibilities seriously as part of an industry which boosts the capital’s economy by £90m per annum. 

“These very same businesses already make a substantial contribution to City of Edinburgh Council coffers, from the payment of non-domestic rates to thousands of pounds for a one-year short-term let licence and hefty planning fees. The suggestion that we are not paying our way is for the birds.”

Ms Campbell in her statement added: “Unfortunately, short-term lets have acted as a convenient scapegoat for all manner of problems and claims about the sector being responsible for overflowing bins in the city centre would appear to be the latest example. 

Read more: AirBnB hosts in Edinburgh could be fined over bin collection costs

Nobody has suggested short-term lets are solely responsible for Edinburgh’s overflowing bins. Ms Campbell did not elaborate on her claim.

The Herald asked ASSC and Halogen what advice the lobby offered its members on how they should pay for waste uplift. They did not respond to this question.

This paper also asked several STL landlords - big and small - what arrangement they made for rubbish collection. Most refused or failed to respond. 

One holiday let campaigner, Ralph Averbuch, said that his own meet and greet staff took rubbish away between guests, booking slots at dumps to do so. 

Adopting a more conciliatory tone than the main lobby, he added: “It doesn't seem such a crazy idea for City of Edinburgh Council to offer a collection service to self-catering or business operators who could opt and pay for as opposed to private commercial waste services. Council bin lorry is there anyway and would reduce trips and pollution.”

Some Scottish councils already provide a pick-up service for established self-catering businesses. Fees are described as modest. Highland Council asks for around £20 a month.

Oxford in 2022 told landlords to either agree a commercial waste contract or have their local authority bins removed. 

This charge - and similar schemes elsewhere in England -  has been dubbed a “bin tax” by its critics. 

However, local authorities do not routinely provide free bin pick-ups for businesses and the payments are not actually a tax.

Oxford, for example, has taken the view that landlords who let out a room in their home and pay council tax are entitled to free uplift but those who offer a whole home for more than 140 days are not. 

A York AirBnB host was prosecuted for using council bins in 2022. The local authority in the Devon resort of Salcombe has threatened fines for the landlords whose tenants are seen using public bins.

Some Edinburgh landlords appear to believe their council tax - a non-business levy - covers the cost of collecting bins from their commercial properties.

One former STL operator, Neil Dishington, told the BBC: “I don't think guests are generating any more rubbish than if someone was living there normally.

As an owner, you pay the council tax contribution so why would the council ask for extra?”

"It is a crusade against Airbnbs and it's suffocating Edinburgh."

The capital’s environment convener, Scott Arthur, said he was mooting payments in response to complaints from residents that AirBnB tenants were dumping trash in communal bins. 

The ASSC’s Ms Campbell asked to see evidence on the scale of this issue. 

The Cockburn Association, which campaigns to protect Edinburgh’s historic centre, acknowledged that it was difficult to monitor these behaviours.

Its director, Terry Levinthal, said: “It is very much the case that many STLs in Edinburgh who operate as a full commercial business use the city’s communal bins rather than take out a commercial licence.  

“It is, however, very difficult to patrol. The Cleansing Department noted a few years ago when they were reviewing collection services that STLs tend to produce more waste per person as they are more likely to use convenience foods that have much packaging.  I don’t think this was a rigorous assessment but it does point to a recognition by CEC that there is an issue.

“This forms part of the wider issue around the City’s tourism and events sector, and its chronic under-management.  

“It has long been a point of complaint that services have been ‘sucked’ away from peripherals areas to service the centre with its high density of tourism activities.  

“The sheer volume of visitors overwhelms the available infrastructure.  It is not unusual for streets in the centre to be littered from over-following bins,  

“We acknowledge that operators such as the Fringe have employed a few dedicated litter crews but it is too little for the scale of the problem." 

Margo Biagi, an SNP councillor, said: “Avoiding the things required of other businesses has been the entire business model of AirBnB. 

“It drained thousands of homes from the city's housing supply, skipping the planning permission, safety inspection, business rates and waste charges required of other businesses. No wonder they've been so profitable. The new regulations are finally levelling that playing field, but it's always worth exploring whether anything more can be done.”