Appendix 4 - Objection Letter C Mullin
Perth and Kinross Council · 8 December 2025
Back to Licensing Committee — 8 December 2025 and its agenda
Text extracted from the council's PDF. Layout and reading order may differ from the original.
Page 1
1 SPR STL From: Stuadh Stuadh Sent: 28 October 2025 13:46 To: SPR STL Subject: Objection to STL Application No. 2347 - Glenburn, Kirkmichael PH10 7NT Categories: OBJECTIONS/COMPLAINTS CAUTION: This email originated from an external organisation. Do not follow guidance, click links, or open attachments unless you have verified the sender and know the content is safe. Sir, I write in response to the mandatory notice period of an application for a Short-Term Lease at Glenburn, Kirkmichael PH10 7NT (Application No. 2347). My details are as follows: Christopher Mullin Post Office House Kirkmichael PH10 7NT I would like to lodge my objections to this application on the following grounds: 1. Overprovision of STLs Kirkmichael is a small village with a large percentage of Second, Empty and Long- Term Empty properties. a. The national levels of 2nd homes (2023) is 0.9%. [Note 1 refers] The levels found in Perth and Kinross sits above this level at 1.6% for 2nd homes with overall vacancy at 6.8%, double the national average. [Note 2 refers] b. Further details in a submission to PKC during the consultation on short-term let controls shows that the North Eastern part of Perth and Kinross, where Kirkmichael is situated, has short-term let levels of 13%, with 9% in the adjacent Highland HMA. [Note 3 refers] c. More locally, the PKC Public Register of STLs shows some 40 lets in Kirkmichael/Glen Derby. This is in a village with about 160 properties. This is well above the 3% rate that the UN considers to be a high- density of short-term lets. [p15, Note 4 refers] 2. Local Impact While is it clear from studies that the impact of 2nd home ownership and vacancy is complex, the very high ratio of homes unavailable to the local community in Kirkmichael with a quarter of housing being dedicaed to STLs is going to be at the higher end of the spectrum. a. Studies tend to show that while there are economic benefits coming from income made through STLs, the second order effects on community cohesion is generally marked. Further to this, these studies often assume the economic benefits of STLs are kept locally, but in this and many other cases, the income generated from the let will not staying in the area, and so the benefits are greatly diminished. Another factor in studies is that they look at STL rates across the nation, roughly at 1%. The effects of STLs rates more locally which are in double figures (25%) will far more detrimental. this is further exacerbated when adding the large number of homes empty due to being 2nd homes, and not on the STL register and homes
Page 2
2 empty for other reasons. This puts the nnumber of houses unavailable for occupancy approaching 50% of the village. [Note 5 refers] b. The main concern resulting from this overprovision is the effect on housing stock availability across all tenures and the price of that accommodation. This is turn affects other service provisions, including accommodation for families to stay in the area, employee availability, commute lengths and business creation. c. Another effect, is the shrinking of the local school. Straloch Primary closed in 2017 due to falling numbers. Kirkmichael Primary School now covers the catchment of this school, as well as the historical catchment of Glenshee and Blackwater schools, and at the end of the 23/24 academic year, it dropped from three classes to two. Notes: 1. Households and Dwellings in Scotland, 2023 2. ibid Figure 6. 3. Appendix 3 to CMIS - Meetings 4. UNECE - Sharing Economy and its Effects on Housing Markets 5. Research into the impact of short-term lets on communities across Scotland Scottish Government, October 2019 Yours Aye Christopher |