Updated Support for Furnished Holiday Let Owners

When the announcement on the Coronavirus Business Support Fund was first made, it originally excluded furnished holiday lets from the scheme which many self-catering business owners felt was misjudged.

The Association of Scotland’s Self-Caterers (ASSC) has since been engaged in discussions with the Scottish Government over the eligibility criteria to allow access to the Coronavirus Business Support Fund for self-caterers.

On Friday 27 March, the Cabinet Secretary for Finance, Kate Forbes MSP responded with the following:

“…the ratepayers for self-catering accommodation and caravans will be eligible for both the one-off £10,000 grant for small businesses and the one-off £25,000 grant for businesses in the retail, hospitality and leisure sectors announced on 18 March by the Cabinet Secretary for Economy, Fair Work and Culture.”

This is good news for the self-catering sector. The grants will be available on the following conditions:

• The property is each ratepayer’s primary source of earnings
• The property is let for 140 days or more in the financial year 2019-20
• Applicants will be required to provide evidence of this and grants will be restricted to one per ratepayer.

ASSC will continue to communicate with the Scottish Government to clarify the support needs of the self-catering sector in Scotland, you can view their latest updates here.

We act for many self-catering businesses throughout Scotland and are proud to be members of ASSC, having recently enhanced our membership to ‘Trade Suppliers Plus’ status. We will keep you up to date as things change and as more information becomes available on the support for those involved in self-catering.

For more information on other support measures announced as a result on the ongoing pandemic, you can find our regular COVID-19 updates here.

To discuss how our EQ Leisure specialists can help your self-catering business, please email leisure@eqaccountants.co.uk.