At the Policy & Sustainability Committee next week, councillors will be considering proposals about how we will use projected income from the Transient Visitor Levy (or ‘TVL’) when it is operational from summer 2026.
TVL is a small charge which is added to overnight stays by tourists in Edinburgh to help upkeep the city. And – in exciting news – one of the proposals for the spend relates to using the money to try and tackle the city’s housing emergency. This is something Green councillors and MSPs have been working hard for, along with the amazing campaigners from Living Rent, and represents a really big shift in the council’s thinking since the scheme was first thought up.
Green councillors first called for a ‘tourist tax’ for Edinburgh back in 2011(!) when Cllr Steve Burgess spoke in favour of it in the City Chambers, and the branch even ran a petition in 2018 calling for it to be introduced. It’s been a long road to get to the point where – in July 2026 – the city should start collecting the levy.
How did we get here?
Changes like this don’t just happen by accident and this particular issue is a pretty great example of all different pieces of the jigsaw coming together. So, we thought it might be interesting for members to find out a bit more about the journey.
The key thing for councillors was a Green motion from Ben Parker in December 2023 supporting the idea of using TVL for housing and asking the council to contact the government to ask permission. Of course, that was the public bit, but there’s lots more that goes on behind the scenes than just what you see on the council webcast(!).
Working with campaigners
Living Rent have been absolutely instrumental in getting this change. From seeing the opportunity to use TVL to tackle the housing emergency, to undertaking research, organising stunts and demos, and giving deputations to Edinburgh Council and the Scottish Parliament. Their tenacity and determination firmly put this idea on the table and made it much more politically viable amongst other groups.
As Green councillors we meet with Living Rent members regularly – on this, and on other work around housing – and we really value all of the work they do for tenants and communities.
Working with MSPs
One of the key issues we came up against when pushing for TVL income to be used for housing was the legislation. As always, local authorities – and, by extension, the decisions councillors want to make on issues – are bound by the legislation. The TVL bill says that money raised from TVL has to be used for spending to benefit the ‘visitor economy’. On the face of it, some might think that this does not include housing, and councils might be very nervous about testing those assumptions.
For Greens though, there were no such worries. It’s clear to us that the tourism industry relies not just on the people coming to visit Edinburgh for leisure or business, but on all the workers who keep the industry running. And, of course, those workers need affordable homes.
So, having passed the motion in Council, we worked with Green MSP Ariane Burgess (Convener of the Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee at Holyrood) to get some clarity on this issue. This resulted in the Scottish Government Minister Tom Arthur MSP confirming that the levy was for local authorities to decide how best to use it including “investing in relevant regeneration and, potentially, supporting affordable housing projects”. It’s a great lesson in working together for our members at all levels of elected office.
Working with council officers
Alongside the motions and the government lobbying, there’s also a need for conversations with council officers to thrash out details, and an awful lot of emails and meetings to keep things on the agenda and remind people what we expect to see come forward following council or committee decisions. There’s also lots of planning and preparation work making sure we know when the key points for action are to get things over the line. It’s not glamorous (and it’s almost certainly very annoying) but it’s often what’s needed to get the job done.
What happens next?
This isn’t a done deal yet! The proposal in the paper is coming to the Policy & Sustainability Committee on 22nd August, so there is still a chance for other parties to object to using TVL on housing, or to water down the proposals. There are a lot of other things to spend the money on, so we can also expect representations from the tourism industry and other groups arguing for bigger slices of the pie.
What’s more, there is also the caveat in the report that spending on housing is dependent on legal approval. We know that lots of people like bringing legal cases against Edinburgh Council, and although we are fairly confident that this is permitted under the legislation, there is always the threat that it will be challenged. Not only would this mean we might not be able to spend the money as we want, but it could also delay the whole TVL process.
Finally, the proposal in the report isn’t perfect. It proposes borrowing money to use for housing for mid-market rental properties, not the social housing we know the city is crying out for. There is work to be done to see if we can persuade the council to be bolder in how we are using the income from the TVL towards truly affordable housing, and that will be the next stage for the campaign.
But, even with those outstanding issues, just getting housing on the agenda at all is a massive win. Thank you to Living Rent and to all Edinburgh branch members who worked so hard with us on getting it this far.