In more detail
The 140/70 rule is simple to state and easy to get wrong in practice. Here's the detail: what counts, what the assessor asks for, how it plays out for each Edinburgh licence type, and what it means for your numbers.
01The 140/70 rule in detail: what counts as available and let
The two numbers get the attention, but the conditions around them matter just as much. For a self-catering property to be on non-domestic rates rather than council tax, it must:
- not be anyone's main home;
- be let commercially, with a view to making a profit;
- be available to let for at least 140 nights in the financial year; and
- be actually let for at least 70 nights in the same financial year.
The financial year runs from 1 April to 31 March, not the calendar year. So a busy August and a quiet winter both fall in the same year, and the Easter weekend can land on either side of the line.
What counts as a let night
Let nights must be genuine commercial lettings. Stays by family and friends who aren't paying a commercial rate don't count towards the 70. Neither do nights you use the home yourself. Bookings longer than 28 nights may need explaining to the assessor, so keep a note of who stayed and why.
What counts as available
Available means the home was genuinely open for booking on a commercial basis: listed, priced and bookable. Nights you blocked for your own use, or for building work, don't count.
The rule sits alongside licensing, not instead of it. Every short let still needs a licence, and the type of licence often tells you which side of the line you'll fall. Our licensing hub explains the routes, and the short-let glossary explains the licensing terms in plain words.
02Evidence for the assessor, and when it's due
The assessor, the Lothian Valuation Joint Board for Edinburgh and East Lothian, can ask you to show how many nights the home was available and how many it was let. You need to be able to answer with records, not memory.
For the 140 available nights
- Booking calendars showing the nights the home was open.
- Your listings, website pages or other adverts for the home.
For the 70 let nights
- Booking records with dates and amounts paid.
- Booking summaries from platforms such as Airbnb.
- Your price list or tariff for different seasons.
- Bank statements showing guest payments for direct bookings, with anything private blanked out.
- An explanation for any booking longer than 28 nights.
The deadline
The deadline to send evidence is usually 26 May in the next financial year. More precisely, you must respond by whichever is later: 56 days after the end of the financial year, or 56 days after the assessor's request. If you don't respond in time, or the evidence isn't enough, the home goes on the council tax list for that financial year.
Making it easy
Keep one folder per financial year, with a monthly export of the calendar and bookings. If you use more than one platform, export from each. For the homes we manage, our owner statements and booking records give you what the assessor asks for, and we can send them over when the request arrives. If you host yourself, our guide to tools, tips and tricks for self-hosts includes simple ways to keep records as you go.
03How the 140/70 rule plays out for each Edinburgh licence type
The licence you hold usually points to where you'll land. Here's how it tends to work for each route.
| Licence route | Usually | Why |
|---|
| Home sharing | Council tax | It's your main home |
| Home letting | Council tax | It's your main home, even while you're away |
| Temporary exemption only | Council tax | Six weeks is at most 42 nights, short of 70 |
| Secondary letting, let through the year | Business rates, if it meets 140/70 | Not a main home, let commercially |
| Secondary letting, quiet year | Council tax, possibly with the second-home premium | Fewer than 70 let nights |
The main-home routes
If you let your own home with a home letting licence, you keep paying council tax as you do now. The 140/70 rule is for homes that aren't anyone's main home.
The Fringe-only home
A temporary exemption covers up to six weeks a year, which is at most 42 nights. That can't reach 70 let nights, so a second home let only for the festivals stays on council tax. In Edinburgh, a furnished second home usually pays the second-home premium.
The year-round second home
A home with planning permission and a secondary letting licence, let through the year, will usually meet both tests. The risk is a quiet year: a long refurbishment, a gap between managers or a slow winter could leave it short of 70 let nights. Keep an eye on the count as the year goes on, not just at the end.
04Edinburgh's second-home council tax premium, and the rise to 300%
This is where the 140/70 rule starts to matter a great deal for Edinburgh owners. A second home that doesn't qualify for business rates usually pays council tax, and Edinburgh charges a premium on second homes.
What's changing
The premium is 100% now, which means double the normal bill. On 27 August 2026, the City of Edinburgh Council voted to raise the premium on second homes and long-term empty homes to 300% from 1 January 2027. That means paying up to four times the normal bill. Our blog post on the Edinburgh council tax premium for 2027 explains who it affects.
Who should pay attention
- Owners of a second home let for a few weeks a year. If it can't reach 70 let nights, it's on council tax, and the premium applies.
- Owners whose short let has had a quiet year. Falling short of 70 let nights moves the home to council tax for that year.
- Owners of an inherited flat. Once the exemptions after a death run out, an empty or second home can pay the premium. Our guide Inherited a flat in Edinburgh? walks through the options.
- Owners of an empty home. A home empty for 12 months, or 24 if it's actively marketed for sale or let, can be treated as long-term empty.
What it means for decisions
For some homes, the premium tips the balance between a short let, a long let and selling. Work that out with real numbers rather than a guess. Our guide Short let or long let? The Edinburgh numbers compares the two, and your free plan includes council tax or rates as a running cost.
05Business rates relief for short lets: what to check
A home on business rates gets a rates bill instead of a council tax bill. The assessor sets the rateable value, and the council sends the bill and collects it. Whether you pay the full amount depends on relief.
The Small Business Bonus Scheme
The Small Business Bonus Scheme can reduce or remove the rates bill for properties with a lower rateable value. Whether you qualify depends on the rateable value of the home and the combined rateable value of all the business properties you have in Scotland, so owning several short lets can change the answer. The thresholds are set nationally and can change from year to year.
One rule matters here: if your property needs a short-term let licence, you must have a valid licence to get the relief. An expired or missing licence can cost you the relief as well as the right to host. That's one more reason to keep renewals on time and the safety documents in date.
How to check
- Find your home's entry and rateable value with the assessor.
- List every other business property you own or occupy in Scotland.
- Check the current relief rules with the City of Edinburgh Council, or East Lothian Council for homes outside the city.
- Ask your accountant how it fits with the rest of your tax position.
We don't give tax advice, but we do make sure the numbers in your plan are honest. If rates or council tax apply, they're in the running costs, alongside the licence costs and our management fees.
06Moving between council tax and business rates
A home isn't fixed on one list forever. It can move between the council tax list and the valuation roll as the way it's used changes.
From council tax to business rates
If your self-catering home is on the council tax list but now meets the conditions, you can ask the assessor to consider it for non-domestic rates. This can happen when a home moves from occasional festival lets to letting through the year, once planning and a secondary letting licence are in place. Have your evidence ready when you ask.
From business rates to council tax
If the home doesn't meet the 140/70 tests in a financial year, or you don't send enough evidence in time, the assessor must take it off the valuation roll and put it on the council tax list for that year. For a second home in Edinburgh, that brings the premium with it.
Planning the year so it doesn't catch you out
- Count let nights month by month, not only at year end.
- Remember Edinburgh's year is uneven. August, Hogmanay and the Six Nations weekends are busy. January and February are quieter.
- If you're planning building work, schedule it for the quiet months and keep the rest of the year open.
- Longer stays from companies and contractors can fill quieter months, but keep notes on any booking over 28 nights.
- If you change manager, make sure the booking records come with you. Our switching manager page explains how we handle it.
If you're letting while you live abroad, the main-home question decides a lot here too. See letting while you're away for work.
Want the honest numbers for your home? Your free plan includes council tax or rates as a running cost, or you can book a 15-minute call with one of the co-founders.
Rather talk it through?Book a 15-minute call with one of the co-founders, or get a free plan for your home: what it could earn, the licence route and every cost.
