A Pitlochry woman says she has been the loser in a “postcode lottery” after her holiday let application was refused.
Lorraine Currie’s plan for flat 4 in Struan House, Bonnethill Road was refused because it went against Perth and Kinross Council policy.
But just four months earlier the council allowed an almost identical application for a holiday let apartment at flat 2 below.
Neither proposal sparked any local objections.
“It appears to be a ‘postcode lottery’,” Ms Currie wrote.
“It is extremely unfair that someone in the same building, at the same time period has been approved but I haven’t.”
Ms Currie’s appeal against the decision will be heard by councillors this week.
Booking.com flat has 86 reviews
She says she had a caravan in Pitlochry for up to 15 years before deciding to buy the one-bedroom first-floor flat for £146,000 in August 2022.
“The plan was to rent the flat out part of the year, whilst the caravan park is open and the flat would remain my residence over the winter period,” Ms Currie explained.
But the idea was complicated by Scottish Government legislation requiring licences for all owners of holiday accommodation in residential properties.
It means that short-term lets in residential properties now require planning consent.
In March 2023 the council gave the owner of flat 2, on the ground floor, permission for a holiday let.
The property has been in use for five years and has 85 reviews on Booking.com with an average rating of 9 out of 10.
Pitlochry holiday let refused
By the time Ms Currie’s proposal was determined by the council, in July 2023, a stricter policy was in place.
The council’s decision statement said: “The recent publication of council draft planning guidance in respect of short-term lets is also notable and indicates the council’s intent in exercising greater control…going forward.”
It added that evidence had emerged of the “proliferation” of short-term lets in Pitlochry since the planning decision at flat 2.
“This…therefore outweighs the planning history whose weight is reduced to moderate within the planning balance,” the statement continued.
Councillors to rule on ‘discriminatory’ decision
Ms Currie says she has paid more than £1,000 on her planning application.
She claims that initial “incorrect advice” from the council delayed its submission.
“If I had been advised by the staff at Perth and Kinross Council in the first place, when applying for a short-term licence, that I required planning permission l would have been ahead of the owner’s application in flat 2,” she wrote.
“I have completed everything asked of me to support my application, to be told my planning permission was refused.
“This decision has been inconsistent and discriminatory, as the owner in the same block of flats has been granted licence and planning permission.”
The council’s local review body will decide in Thursday’s meeting whether to overrule officers and uphold Ms Currie’s appeal.
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