Dumfries and Galloway Short Term Lets
BACKGROUND
From 1 October 2022, all short-term let accommodation in Scotland needed a licence unless expressly excluded. This ensured a mandatory set of standards for all short-term lets across Scotland.
The new licence is a legal obligation, even if hosts occasionally let out a spare room or sub-let while on holiday.
THE CHALLENGE
To implement a new service that fulfilled the requirements set by the Scottish government, a system was needed to manage various application types based on the specific license required. This system also had to facilitate online payments, oversee the entire application process, automatically notify relevant parties, and generate necessary documentation.
Additionally, it was essential to provide a publicly viewable register of all licenses and their status. All of this data needed to be reported to the Scottish government.
THE SOLUTION
We implemented our short-term lets licensing system. The new licensing regime is similar to the existing House in Multiple Occupation (HMO) licensing system, it needed minor tweaks to meet the legislative differences between the services.
The system provides a comprehensive, fully online service to submit and track applications for home sharing, home letting and secondary letting. Users can save as they go and then return later to continue saved applications. It also provides a back-office case management system to handle enquiries and complaints.
The short-term lets system also allows customers to view historic licenses and re-download certificates for existing licences, while also providing the public register for licences. Payments are also managed by the system as part of the application process, meaning that the administrative burden is minimal for officers.
To ensure all data is reportable, we built an automated reporting tool that collates and sends the authority's data to the Scottish government.
THE BENEFITS
- An online system that meets all of the new legislation
- Significant reduction in officer workload compared to a manual system
- Automated mandatory reporting.
- Efficiency gains through the automation of communication through various channels
- Reduce incomplete or incorrect applications
- Improves customer engagement and uptake, digitisation and channel shift
- Easy to maintain, minimises impact on IT
- Secure information and service provision
- Enables end-to-end digital processes improving customer service
- Address validation via UPRN to prevent incorrect scheme applications
THE FUTURE
As we move forward, we are excited to continue our collaboration with Dumfries and Galloway Council for many years to come. Adam Black, Team Leader Housing Standards stated: “I have to say we won the lottery when we procured you guys. I do not believe that any other company would be as responsive or accommodating“.
We are certain the flexibility of ESB will allow us to meet any future requirements set by the Scottish government, while our statistical reports will continue to deliver essential analytical insights.
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