The majority (82%; 24,913) of these applications were received before the 1 October 2023 cut-off for existing hosts and operators to apply for a provisional licence to continue operating whilst waiting for a full licence confirmation, the statistics added.

The majority (18,965 or 76%) of validated applications relate to secondary letting (i.e. where a non-primary residence is let out), with 2,575 (10%) being for home sharing, 1,937 (8%) for home letting, and 1,333 (5%) for a mixture of home sharing and letting. Similar proportions are reported for licences granted.

In total, 21,075 licences or exemptions were in operation as of 30 June 2024. Full licences accounted for over three quarters (76% or 16,052) of this number and 22% (4,560) were provisional licences pending a final decision. There were 461 temporary licences and exemptions.

The Association of Scotland’s Self-Caterers (ASSC), which lobbied against the introduction of the licensing scheme, said the statistics prove that the Scottish Government should look elsewhere to tackle the housing crisis.

Fiona Campbell, CEO of the ASSC, said: “What these figures demonstrate is that 18,000 secondary lets are a drop in the ocean when set against the tidal wave of empty and second homes across Scotland. There are now around 120,000 habitable homes across the country with no one living in them. It is nothing short of a national disgrace.

“Scotland has declared a housing emergency but too many have readily blamed short-term lets as the main contributing factor and attempted to tarnish our reputation in the process. However, it is not possible to solve Scotland’s housing crisis by generating a crisis in Scottish tourism.

“It is time to stop the policy misdirection and scapegoating of STLs but instead focus on tackling the scourge of empty homes and by building our way out of the housing emergency.”