Running short-term lets in Glasgow under Scotland's licence, with a visitor levy due in January 2027
If you manage or clean short-term lets in Glasgow, you follow Scotland's rules for short-term lets. A host needs a licence from the council before taking bookings, and Glasgow is not a planning control area the way Edinburgh is. The council has also approved a 5% visitor levy that is due to start in January 2027. Upbridge's AI operations assistant, Cleo, works over WhatsApp with vacation rental operators and cleaning companies and organizes the cleanings and the inventory for each place.
The rules here
Glasgow sits under the Scottish scheme, so every row below comes from Scottish sources. We checked every row on 24 October 2026.
| Topic | What it says | Status | Since | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Licence | A host has to get a licence from the council before taking bookings or receiving guests. A licence usually lasts three years. Letting without one is a criminal offence, with a fine of up to £2,500 and a one-year ban on applying again. Hosts who were already letting on 1 October 2022 had until 1 April 2023 to apply. | In force | 1 October 2022 | mygov.scot, Scottish Government |
| Control area | Only two places in Scotland are control areas: the whole City of Edinburgh Council area, and Badenoch and Strathspey in the Highlands. Glasgow is not on the list, so the extra planning permission that applies to a whole flat in Edinburgh is not a control-area rule here. | No specific law | 9 October 2025 (page checked) | mygov.scot |
| Business rates test | A self-catering let is rated as a non-domestic property if it isn't anyone's main home, is let commercially to make a profit, was available for at least 140 nights and was let for at least 70 nights in the financial year from 1 April to 31 March. Otherwise it stays on the council tax list. | In force | Not stated | mygov.scot |
| Second homes | From 1 April 2026 each Scottish council sets its own premium on second homes, with a national default of 100%. SPICe, the Scottish Parliament's research service, lists Glasgow among the councils raising its premium on that date, so that owners pay three times the standard charge. Glasgow City Council's own page would not load for us, so check your bill. | In force | 1 April 2026 | SPICe |
| Visitor levy | Glasgow City Council approved a 5% charge on overnight stays in June 2025, averaging £4.83 a night, to start in January 2027. The reports we read don't say how it applies to self-catering, and the Association of Scotland's Self-Caterers criticised its effect on smaller self-catering businesses. | Not yet in force | January 2027 (planned) | Scottish Financial News |
On planning, Scottish Housing News reported in June 2022 that under Glasgow's policy a flat used for short stays needs planning permission, that a licence application has to show the consent is in place, and that home sharing and letting a house don't need it. That was a report on a draft scheme, and we couldn't open the council's current page, so ask the council which version applies to your flat.
This is not legal or tax advice, and Upbridge does not file anything for you: no registrations and no tax returns.
How it works on the ground
The Scottish Government counted 687 licences in operation in Glasgow City at the end of 2025, granted or provisional, against 3,209 in Edinburgh. Glasgow Life's figures for 2024 give 4.72 million overnight visitors, up by more than a fifth on 2023, who spent about two nights each on average, and £2.39 billion of total direct spending including day visitors. With stays that short, a typical flat changes guests more than once a week.
Celtic Connections runs from 14 to 31 January 2027, which is 18 days of festival in the middle of winter, and the visitor levy is due in the same month. If your booking tool shows taxes as their own line, test it on a January stay before the festival starts. The OVO Hydro's listings already show Papa Roach on 1 November, Noah Kahan on 5 and 6 November and Stevie Wonder on 11 November 2026, so there are arrivals to plan for before the festival begins.
Glasgow Airport is about 11 km west of the centre, near Paisley, and has no rail link. First Glasgow's Airport Express, route 500, takes passengers to the city centre by the M8, and the nearest station is Paisley Gilmour Street. Glasgow Central, by contrast, had about 25.3 million passengers in 2024 to 2025, with a fast ScotRail train to Edinburgh every hour. Your arrival note should say which of the two the guest is coming through.
Where Upbridge fits
For eighteen festival days in January, every checkout on your calendar becomes a cleaning with a photo checklist, and the cleaner can report a missing item or a damaged one from the flat. You see from your phone which units are done.
The guest who arrives at the airport late needs to know that the Airport Express exists and where it stops, and the guest guide we build can carry that route and how to get in. Inventory per property is deducted after each stay, which makes it easy to see before 14 January whether a flat has enough winter blankets.
If you run a cleaning company in Glasgow
With an average stay of about two nights, a Glasgow cleaning team does a lot of changeovers for each client. The account for cleaning companies brings each owner's iCal or PMS into one calendar, so the January festival days are visible together, and each client stays with you.
Questions about short-term lets in Glasgow
Do I need a licence to let a flat short term in Glasgow?
Yes. mygov.scot, updated 9 October 2025, says you must get a licence before you take bookings or receive guests, and that letting without one is a criminal offence.
Is Glasgow a short-term let control area?
No. The same page lists only the City of Edinburgh Council area and Badenoch and Strathspey.
When does the Glasgow visitor levy start?
The council approved a 5% levy in June 2025 and reports give January 2027 as the start. How it applies to self-catering was not clear in the reports we read.
More questions
When is Celtic Connections in 2027?
The festival's website gives 14 to 31 January 2027.
Sources
Checked on 24 October 2026
- mygov.scot, “Short-term let licences”, updated 9 October 2025, read for the licence and the penalty.
- mygov.scot, “Planning permission and control areas for short-term lets”, updated 9 October 2025, read for the list of control areas.
- Scottish Government, “Licensing scheme opens for short-term lets”, 1 October 2022, read for the start date and the deadline.
- Scottish Government, “Short Term Lets Licensing Statistics Scotland to 31 December 2025”, 28 April 2026, read for the Glasgow count.
- mygov.scot, “Non-domestic rates guidance: short-term lets”, updated 30 March 2026.
- SPICe Spotlight, “New Scottish council tax powers for empty and second homes”, 24 March 2026.
- Scottish Financial News, “Glasgow greenlights tourist tax, charging 5% levy from 2027”, 20 June 2025.
- Scottish Housing News, “Glasgow moves to regulate short-term lets”, 27 June 2022.
- Glasgow Life, “Tourism in Glasgow continues to thrive”, 18 September 2025.
- Celtic Connections, undated, read 24 October 2026.
- OVO Hydro, “Events”, undated, read 24 October 2026.
- Wikipedia, “Glasgow Airport”, undated, read 24 October 2026.
- Wikipedia, “Glasgow Central station”, undated, read 24 October 2026.