The Association of Scotland’s Self-Caterers (ASSC) has welcomed the Scottish Government’s decision to introduce targeted non-domestic rates (NDR) relief for the self-catering sector, alongside vital regulatory changes that will allow legitimate self-catering businesses to secure or retain their correct status within the NDR system.
The measures follow sustained engagement by the ASSC and strong cross-party support, particularly from the Scottish Conservatives, the Scottish Liberal Democrats, and independent MSP Fergus Ewing.
The package provides essential short-term protection for self-catering businesses facing the most severe increases in rateable values following the 2026 revaluation, while also addressing long-standing evidential barriers that had unfairly pushed compliant operators out of the NDR system.
Of particular significance is the introduction of a bespoke Revaluation Transitional Relief for self-catering accommodation, which will cap year-on-year increases in gross non-domestic rates liabilities at 15%, up to the next revaluation in 2029. This recognises the disproportionate impact the revaluation has had on self-catering businesses and differentiates them from the wider commercial property base.
Crucially, the Scottish Government has also laid regulations creating a new, time-limited window for self-catering operators to submit evidence of meeting statutory occupancy requirements for the 2024–25 financial year. This follows successful ASSC lobbying to address cases where legitimate self-catering units met the letting criteria but were removed from the NDR roll solely due to evidential or timing issues, rather than non-compliance. From April 2026, the regulations will also enable evidence to be submitted to Assessors for any financial year, regardless of whether an in-year request was made, providing greater procedural fairness and clarity for self-catering operators going forward.
While welcoming these outcomes, the ASSC has been clear that transitional reliefs and regulatory fixes, although necessary, do not resolve the underlying problem. The Association continues to contend that the 2026 NDR valuation methodology applied to self-catering accommodation is structurally flawed and has produced outcomes that are economically unsustainable for many otherwise viable businesses.
The ASSC will now focus on supporting members through the implementation of the new reliefs and evidence provisions, while continuing to press for evidence-based reform of the NDR system as it applies to self-catering accommodation.
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Fiona Campbell MBE, Chief Executive of the Association of Scotland’s Self-Caterers, said:
“This is extremely good news for thousands of self-catering businesses across Scotland. We welcome that the Scottish Government is listening to the sector and acting, alongside the constructive cross-party support that helped secure these changes. The reliefs will provide immediate breathing space, but just as importantly, the new evidence window is a major step in correcting unfair outcomes for legitimate operators who were removed from the rates roll through no fault of their own.
Getting compliant self-catering units back into the non-domestic rates system is about fairness and integrity. These businesses were doing the right thing yet were penalised by process. However, transitional relief is not a long-term solution. The 2026 valuation methodology for self-catering is fundamentally flawed and delaying the impact does not fix the problem. Without reform, the risk of business closures remains very real once these protections fall away. We will continue to work constructively with Assessors and the Scottish Government to press for a proper review of the methodology and a subsequent revaluation, grounded in independent, expert evidence. Self-catering plays a vital role in Scotland’s tourism economy and must be taxed fairly, proportionately, and on the basis of real trading conditions.”
