Buying a holiday let? Due-diligence checker

Not automatically. A Scottish short-term let licence is specific to the licence holder (a person or a company) and the premises, so it cannot simply be handed over, even to someone who buys the property. If you want to keep letting, the seller can apply to the council to transfer the licence into your name. The council consults the Chief Constable on whether you are a fit and proper person, and there is no presumption that the transfer will be granted. If it is, the time left on the licence carries over to you (for example, a transfer 13 months into a 3-year licence means you renew after 23 more months). Otherwise you need your own licence before you take bookings or guests. Councils charge a transfer fee.

Very likely, if it is a whole property that is not your main home. Scotland has two short-term let control areas: the whole City of Edinburgh (since 5 September 2022) and the Badenoch and Strathspey ward of Highland (since 4 March 2024). In a control area, using a dwelling that is not your main home as a short-term let very likely needs planning permission, and the licence application may need it. Elsewhere in Scotland, the planning authority decides whether letting is a material change of use. Proposed control areas only apply once they come into force, so check the council page in the checker above and ask the planning authority before you buy.

Not without planning permission. In Greater London, letting residential premises as short-term sleeping accommodation is not a material change of use only if two conditions are met: no more than 90 nights in the calendar year in total, and the person providing the accommodation is liable for council tax on the property for each of those nights. Above 90 nights you need planning permission from the borough. Nights from every platform and direct bookings count.

Not yet. GOV.UK (updated 2 October 2026) says a mandatory national registration scheme for short-term lets in England is expected to begin in March 2027. No regulations, portal or fee have been published yet. Planning is decided locally: your local planning authority decides whether you need planning permission, based on how the property is used and its impact on neighbours and the area, so ask the council before you buy.

Register it with the Welsh Revenue Authority. If you take bookings of 31 nights or fewer and you are responsible for the accommodation (for example you own it), you must register by 31 March 2027, even if your council does not charge the visitor levy. Registration is free. A seller must update their own registration within 30 days if they sell. The visitor levy starts in Cardiff on 1 April 2027 at £1.30 per person per night for self-catering lets, and Cardiff providers must account for it on bookings from 28 September 2026. A national licensing scheme for self-catering lets is law but not in force yet (legal default March 2030).

Usually not, unless an Article 4 direction applies. Since 2022 Wales has separate planning use classes for main homes (C3), second homes (C5) and short-term lets (C6), and changes between them are permitted development. A local planning authority can remove that right with an Article 4 direction. For example, Eryri National Park Authority's direction has been in force since 1 June 2025, while Cyngor Gwynedd's was quashed by the High Court and is not in force. Ask the planning authority for the property's area.

It depends on how it is let, so do not assume the seller's status carries on. England: available to let commercially for at least 140 nights and actually let for at least 70 nights in the last 12 months, and you intend to make it available for 140 nights in the next 12. Wales: at least 252 nights available and 182 nights let in 12 months, and you intend 252 in the next 12. Scotland: not anyone's only or main home, available for 140 nights and let for 70 nights in the financial year (1 April to 31 March), with evidence sent to the assessor by the deadline. A Scottish example on mygov.scot shows a buyer using letting evidence for the whole financial year they bought in, so ask the seller for booking records.

It is charged council tax instead, and if nobody lives there as their main home it can count as a second home. Councils can charge a second homes premium on top: up to 100% extra in England (since 1 April 2025), up to double the full rate in Scotland (since 1 April 2024) and up to 300% extra in Wales (since 1 April 2023). Each council decides whether to charge it and at what rate, and there are exceptions, so check the council before you buy.

Mortgage terms normally require you to ask the lender for consent before running a business from a property, so check that the product allows short-term letting. GOV.UK says short-term lets in England should have holiday let insurance, public liability cover, and buildings and contents cover suitable for short-term letting. In Scotland, valid buildings insurance and public liability insurance for each let are mandatory licence conditions. Ask your solicitor to check the title deeds (and the lease, if it is leasehold) for restrictions on letting or running a business. In Scotland a licence application is refused without the consent of every owner.