Home letting vs secondary letting in EdinburghHome letting vs secondary letting: which licence fits your home

If the flat is your main home and you let it while you're away, you need a home letting licence. If you live somewhere else, it's secondary letting, and in Edinburgh that also needs planning permission.

Home letting vs secondary letting: the short answer

The difference between home letting and secondary letting comes down to one question: is this your main home? If you live there and let it while you're away, it's home letting. If you live somewhere else and the flat is a second home or an investment, it's secondary letting. Everything else follows from that answer: the licence, whether you need planning permission, the council fee, how long the licence lasts and how much paperwork sits in front of you.

In Edinburgh the gap between the two is wide. A home letting licence usually needs no planning permission. A secondary letting licence does, because the whole city has been a short-term let control area since 5 September 2022. For many owners that one fact decides whether short letting is a simple project or a long one.

Which short-term let licence do I need in Edinburgh?

Work through it in this order:

1. Do you live in the home for most of the year, and come back to it between trips? Then you're looking at a home letting licence, or home sharing if you'll be there while guests stay.
2. Do you only want to let for a few weeks, such as August? A temporary exemption may be enough.
3. Do you live somewhere else? Then it's secondary letting, and planning comes first. Our page on secondary letting and planning explains that route.

Every short let in Scotland has needed a licence since 1 October 2023, and operating without one is a criminal offence. There's no route that skips licensing. The choice is only which licence fits your home. If any of the terms here are new, our short-let glossary explains them in plain words.

The four short-term let licence types, plus temporary exemptions

Scotland's scheme has four licence types. They're defined by where the host lives, not by the size of the property or how often it's let. The licensing hub has the overview; here's how they compare.

Licence periods are from the City of Edinburgh Council's policy. Secondary letting renewals can then run for three years where there have been no complaints, which the council introduced in 2025.

Temporary exemptions and temporary licences

Alongside the four types sit two short-term options. A temporary exemption lets you short-let without a full licence for up to six weeks in a calendar year, in a single period or up to three separate ones. Edinburgh grants them for festivals and major events: the Fringe and the International Festival, Christmas and Hogmanay, and big sporting and international events. You can apply up to six months before your start date. A temporary licence is a short licence in its own right, for up to six weeks.

Both cover any of the four types, including a second home. That doesn't switch off planning for a home you don't live in, so check that position first. The full comparison, documents and Fringe timeline are on our temporary exemption page. The safety conditions apply in full either way. The licence requirements checklist lists what that means room by room.

The main-home test, and what makes a flat your home

Home letting rests on the idea of your only or principal home. The Scottish Government's planning guidance uses the same idea: where the dwelling is the only or principal home of the person letting it, the let sits outside the control area rules. So the main-home question decides both your licence and your planning position.

There's no single document that proves it. The council looks at where you actually live. Signs that point to it being your main home:

• You live there for most of the year, and come back to it between trips.
• It's your address for council tax, your bank, your GP and the electoral register.
• Your clothes, post, furniture and daily life are there.
• You don't have another home you spend more time in.

Cases that are less clear

Some situations need a closer look. Owners who split the year between Edinburgh and somewhere else. Someone who has bought a new home but hasn't sold the flat yet. A couple where one partner works away for months at a time. A flat you inherited and haven't moved into. In each case, the honest answer depends on the facts, and the licence application asks you to describe the use truthfully. Choosing home letting because it's simpler, when the flat is really a second home, is the kind of mistake that comes back at renewal or after a complaint.

If you've inherited a flat, our guide to inherited flats in Edinburgh walks through the options. If you're unsure where you stand, it's worth settling before you pay anything. We check this with you before anything is paid, and your free short-let plan sets out the route, because the council fee isn't refunded if a licence is refused.

Planning and the Edinburgh control area since 5 September 2022

Licensing and planning are two separate permissions from two separate parts of the council. The licence asks whether the home is safe and suitable to let. Planning asks whether letting it is an acceptable use of that building in that place. You need the licence for every short let. You need planning only when the let is a change of use.

Since 5 September 2022, the whole of the City of Edinburgh has been a short-term let control area. Inside a control area, using a whole home that isn't your main home as a short let counts as a material change of use, so it needs planning permission. That's the rule that catches secondary letting. Letting your main home while you're away isn't caught, which is why home letting usually needs no planning at all.

How the two fit together

For a secondary letting licence, the council asks you to show either that planning permission is in place or why it isn't needed. In practice that means planning comes first, and the licence follows. Applying for the licence before the planning position is clear is the most common way Edinburgh owners lose a council fee.

Planning decisions turn on the building. Flats that share a common stair or entrance with homes lived in by residents are the hardest to get through. Main-door flats and houses tend to have better prospects. Think of a fourth-floor tenement flat off a busy close, with families on every landing: that's the case planning is designed to protect. Our secondary letting and planning page goes into what affects a decision, and the Edinburgh rules page covers the control area in more depth.

East Lothian sits outside Edinburgh's control area, so planning works differently for homes in Musselburgh or North Berwick; check with East Lothian Council. They still need a licence. The North Berwick section of our management page has more on letting there.

Certificates of lawfulness for older short lets

Some homes were short lets long before the control area began. For those, a certificate of lawfulness can stand in for planning permission. It's a formal decision from the council's planning service that an existing use is lawful, so no new permission is needed. The council's licensing policy names it as one way to explain why planning permission isn't required for a secondary letting licence.

A certificate isn't a formality. It usually needs evidence that the home has been used as a short let for ten years or more without enforcement action. That evidence has to be solid and continuous:

• Booking records and platform statements, year by year
• Accounts or tax returns showing the letting income
• Cleaning and changeover invoices
• Anything else showing the home was let to guests rather than lived in

Gaps matter. A few years as a long let in the middle, or a period when the owner moved back in, can weaken the case. That's why a planning consultant or solicitor is the right person to advise on whether an application is worth making. We don't prepare certificates of lawfulness or planning applications ourselves.

If you're buying a flat with a short-let history

A seller saying the flat "has always been an Airbnb" doesn't make it lawful. Ask whether planning permission or a certificate is already in place, and get your solicitor to check it before you offer. Our guide to buying a short-let property in Edinburgh covers the checks in order, and the post on mortgages, insurance and title deeds for short lets covers the other permissions you'll need.

Council fees and timelines for each licence type

Fees are set by the City of Edinburgh Council and depend on the licence type and how many guests the home sleeps. These are the figures from the council's published fee table, as shown on our licence costs page.

The council doesn't refund the fee if a licence is refused. For secondary letting, add the cost of planning advice and the planning application itself.

How long each route takes

• Home letting: the council can take up to nine months and aims to decide within about four. A site notice goes up at the property for 21 days from the date you apply, so neighbours can comment. You can't take guests until the licence is granted.
• Temporary exemption: applications open six months before your start date, and they're usually much quicker. For August, that means applying from February.
• Secondary letting: planning first, then the licence. Allow for both, one after the other.

Certificates take time too: an EICR, gas safety, a fire risk assessment and a floor plan all need a contractor visit. Once licensed, plan for renewal: you can apply up to six months before expiry, and applying in time keeps the licence in force while the council decides.

Moving abroad: when home letting becomes secondary letting

This is where owners most often slip from one licence type to the other without noticing. A posting overseas for a year, with the flat let while you're away and every intention of coming back, can still be home letting. The flat is still your main home: your things are there, you return to it, and you don't have another settled home. Our page on letting your Edinburgh home while you work abroad covers that situation in detail.

Moving abroad for good is different. Once you live somewhere else, the Edinburgh flat stops being your main home. Short-letting it is then secondary letting, which in Edinburgh needs planning permission first. A home letting licence doesn't stretch to cover it.

Signs your situation has changed

• You've bought or rented a long-term home abroad and live there most of the year.
• Your post, bank and tax residence have moved with you.
• You come back to Edinburgh as a visitor, not to live.
• There's no fixed date to return.

The council expects to hear about material changes in circumstances, so a change in who lives in the home is something to raise, not to sit on. If the move is permanent, the realistic options are planning permission and a secondary letting licence, a long let to a tenant, or selling. A temporary exemption can still cover a few weeks a year, but planning still applies to a home you no longer live in, so check that position with the council first.

Our free guide to letting your home while you're away has a fuller checklist. If you're not sure which side of the line you're on, book a 15-minute call before you go, not after.

Home letting vs secondary letting: decision steps and where we help

Here's the whole decision in six steps, in the order we work through it with owners.

1. Settle the main-home question. Where do you live for most of the year? Be honest, because everything rests on it.
2. Pick the length. A few weeks around the Fringe or Hogmanay may only need a temporary exemption. Letting through the year needs a full licence.
3. Check planning. Main home: usually not needed. Not your main home: planning permission or a certificate of lawfulness comes first.
4. Check the other permissions. Mortgage lender consent, insurance that covers short lets, and your title deeds and factor rules.
5. Get the documents ready. Certificates, alarms, a floor plan and the rest of the requirements list.
6. Apply, then wait. No guests until the licence is granted. Use the time for photos and setting up the listing.

What Stays In does, and doesn't do

We prepare and submit home letting licences, temporary exemptions and temporary licences with you. That includes the planning check, the document pack and floor plan, paying the council fee for you and answering the council's questions. Our support is £600 + VAT for a home letting licence and £400 + VAT for a temporary exemption or licence, with bundles on the costs page.

We don't prepare secondary letting licence applications or planning applications. We do manage homes that already have planning permission and a secondary letting licence. Management is from 15% + VAT of net booking revenue, which is 18% including VAT; the full breakdown is on our pricing page.

If you'd like to see the numbers first, the earnings calculator gives a quick view, and our post on what an Airbnb earns in Edinburgh goes deeper. When you're ready, get a free short-let plan: your licence route, planning position and every cost for your home. Let's talk about your property.

By the Stays In team, Edinburgh. General guidance, not legal or financial advice.