Owners of short-term lets in Edinburgh face being charged for their bins to be collected under plans put forward by council officials.
Some local authorities in England have opted to charge the Airbnb-style properties for waste management or arrange commercial pick-ups.
The plans, to be considered at the council’s environment committee, would be separate from council tax or business rates already paid by owners.
The fee would also come on top of new regulations for short-term rentals to apply for a licence, which came into effect in Edinburgh in October.
Visitors booking holiday lets in the city were told to look out for licence numbers in adverts to ensure any property meets the requirements. Hosts can face fines of £2,500 if they have not complied, including displaying energy performance ratings on listings and having adequate buildings and public liability insurance, as well as various fire and gas safety precautions.
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It is understood that all businesses are being considered for the waste policy. Scott Arthur, the Scottish Labour councillor and convener of the environment committee, said: “As Edinburgh’s vibrant short-term let sector transitions into a robustly regulated and better-managed operation, it’s important that we reflect on the past problems, and deal with any negative issues.”
Andy Fenner, the chief executive of the Short Term Accommodation Association, an industry body, said the reasoning for extra charges “needs to be clear and proportionate”.
He said: “If you’re a holiday let owner paying business rates or council tax you are, like every other business or home, already paying for the bins to be collected, and that’s the point. When you pay tax, you’re supposed to get something in exchange.
“These people are already paying for that service and are entitled to receive it. You can’t just keep charging more and more money for the same level of service.”
But Arthur said the move was about cleanliness rather than making money for the council.
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He added: “I don’t see this as a battle between me or the council and operators. This isn’t about money at all, it’s about dealing with complaints we have around the way a minority of short-term guests are behaving. The short-term let operators will benefit from that, better street cleanliness around properties will make them more attractive to go to and come back to.”
Finlay McFarlane, an SNP councillor for Edinburgh city centre who sits on the environment committee, argued that the volume of waste generated from a short-term let property is typically much more than a standard residential home.
He said: “Temporary guests can struggle to understand how to properly recycle their waste and tend to have bulkier waste to begin with, a problem that’s multiplied by the turnover of those checking in and out.
“This presents additional strain on the communal residential bins especially in areas like the Old Town where there are so many short-term lets. Cafés, shops and hotels all pay for private commercial waste contracts ― if a property is operating as a business then they should too.”
