Thousands await approval for short-term let licences

Hello and welcome to our daily digest of business, financial and economic news from around Scotland.

1. Only 65 short-term letting licence applications have been rejected although thousands have yet to be completed, official data shows.

Scottish government statistics showed there had been 24,810 valid applications between October 2022 and the end of June this year.

Almost 16,700 licences have been approved in the period although there were 7,575 still waiting to be decided upon.

In total there are 21,075 licences being operated once provisional approvals have been taken into consideration.

Highland, with 3,944 licences, and Edinburgh, 3,373, are the places with the most short-term lets.

Industry groups had warned the introduction of licenses would drive many people away from the sector.

2. The