Councillors have delayed a decision on whether to allow two Pitlochry holiday apartments to stay open.
Officers have been asked to reconsider the case in the light of new guidance on the impact of short-term lets in popular tourist areas.
The accommodation at 4 Bonnethill Road has been used for some time by visiting workers at Pitlochry Festival Theatre.
However, property owners are now required to apply for short-term let licences.
And Perth and Kinross Council officers turned the application down, saying Pitlochry could ill afford to lose any more residential properties.
Owner Michelle Macmillan appealed against that decision.
She says her company Pitlochry Escapes already has bookings from theatre staff from March to August this year.
A number of theatre workers also wrote to Perth and Kinross Council, urging it to allow the apartments to continue.
They say there is a shortage of affordable accommodation in Pitlochry.
The theatre’s artistic director Elizabeth Newman says the Bonnethill Road accommodation has been “a vital resource for the artistic community in Pitlochry”.
New guidance on short-term lets
The appeal was considered by Perth and Kinross Council’s local review body on Monday.
Members referred the case back to council officers in the light of new guidance which was not in place when the application was first refused.
Perth and Kinross Council consulted the public on the principle of a short-term let control area for Highland Perthshire and parts of Eastern Perthshire last year.
The finalised guidance was approved by the environment, infrastructure and economic development committee in November.
It will now be used to help assess and determine planning applications for changes of use from a house or flat to a short-term let.
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