Council should tackle 'unintended consequences' of letting legislation on Fringe affordability
Tony Lankester, chief executive of the Fringe Society, said the ‘work was not done’ until it was as ‘easy as possible’ for performers and visitors to get to Edinburgh
Council leaders need to look at the “unintended consequences” of short term let legislation which is causing a bottleneck in supply and driving up festival accommodation prices to an unaffordable level, the head of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society has warned.
Fringe Society chief executive Tony Lankester called for Edinburgh City Council to make changes to its short term letting rules to allow properties with HMO licences - many of which house students - to fast track exemptions to allow them to operate as festival lets.
He argued that many criteria which apply to HMO licences, such as gas certificates and other safety checks are the same for the six week exemption licence granted to people over the festivals period, but said many landlords were missing out due to the short notice required for students to exit their contracts under new national rental legislation.
Mr Lankester’s comments come as the Fringe Society, which is moving into its new Fringe Central headquarters in the Old Town this summer, unveiled a programme of 3,649 shows registered for this year’s festival, up from 3,352 at the same time last year, but still below 2019 levels.
A total of 53,884 performances listed in the programme, which will be distributed from today, will take place this year across 258 venues.
Mr Lankester also unveiled plans for a trial of new scheme which will allow festival goers to map out their day by plugging their preferred shows into an app. He said if successful, the app could be rolled out and sold to cities across the world.
He warned the soaring cost of Fringe accommodation was making a visit to the festival prohibitively expensive for many performers and visitors.
He said: “For every artist who is in the programme, there is a couple who are not and our work isn’t done until we’ve made it as easy as possible for these artists to get here. The same goes for visitors.
“There’s only so many levers we can pull and I want the council to look at the unintended consequences of short term let legislation, which has really stifled supply in the system.
“From an accommodation point of view, Edinburgh is one of the most expensive cities in the world to visit. I don’t have a problem with the visitor levy, but it has to be put to good use and has to enhance everybody’s experience of the city.”
He added: “We need to drive up the supply side of the equation, without disadvantaging the people who live here, but I don’t believe that balance has been struck yet.”
He pointed to a change in primary legislation which means that students - alongside any renters - do not have to give notice until a few weeks before they want to leave.
He said: “That means there are a whole lot of rooms that are standing empty during the Fringe, but by the time the student gives notice, there is no time for the landlord to turn it into a short term let under the exemption.”
An exemption allows property owners in Edinburgh to apply for a temporary licence to rent out their homes for specific events, such as the summer or winter festivals period.
Meanwhile, the Festival Planning Tool, which will help audience members create a timetable for their shows, offer suggestions and book tickets as well as taking into account rest breaks and geographical logistics, is to be offered to 1,000 people in a beta version from June before being rolled out next year.
Mr Lankester said the app, funded in its pilot stages by the Fringe Society, could be “transformational” for the organisation, suggesting it could be ultimately sold to other cities and even include commercial partners such as restaurants or tourist attractions.
Tickets for the Fringe, the Edinburgh International Film Festival and the Edinburgh Jazz and Blues Festival will initially be available to purchase directly through the app, with plans to also integrate booking systems for the Edinburgh International Festival, the Edinburgh International Book Festival and the Tattoo in the future.
He said he had built a prototype of the Festivals Planning Tool himself - after first coming up with the idea a decade ago when he was running a festival in South Africa.
He said: “It’s trying to address a need that we think exists, which is that people want a cleaner, more efficient way of planning their time in Edinburgh in the summer.”
Users will be able to browse specific dates and select favourite shows from across the festivals, which the tool can turn into an organised schedule.
The tool will also take into account shows which are physically located near to each other and schedule them together, and take into account travel time, as well as only scheduling shows for which there are available tickets. The tool will also identify gaps in a person’s schedule and suggest nearby shows to see in that time.
“For our hardcore users who plan 50 shows in a month, it will be a massive time saver,” said Mr Lankester.
The Fringe is in talks with the City of Edinburgh Council, as well as Visit Scotland and other stakeholders about possible investment. He believes initial costs will be around £30,000 to £40,000, but to get it to roll-out stage will cost around £100,000.
“Public funding is important, we sell tickets and there are revenue streams in there, but the more that we can do to generate new revenue streams, the better,” he said.
The Fringe Society registered a “notable increase” this year in registrations from performers from overseas. Performers are travelling from 71 countries, up from 58 last year - with artists from the US still the highest figure at 505, followed by Australia at 162.
A total of 935 Scottish shows have been registered, up from 923 this time last year, with 2,516 from the UK as a whole and 1,133 international performances.
Neil Ross, regulatory convener at Edinburgh City Council, said: “The council is doing everything it can to make it as easy as possible for HMO licence holders who wish to additionally obtain an STL licence. Temporary exemptions for up to six weeks are already available to HMO operators. They can also apply for a full short-term let licence at only £120 per year.
Comments
Want to join the conversation? Please or to comment on this article.