Renewing a short-term let licence in South Ayrshire
Everything Thistle Compliance knows about renewing a short-term let licence with South Ayrshire Council — the fees, the documents, where to send it, and how to find your own expiry date.
We cannot currently take work in South Ayrshire. The information on this page is complete and kept up to date, and you are welcome to use it to file yourself. We do not take work where we cannot guarantee an engineer.
- Licence period
- Three years.
- Cost to renew
- Cheaper to renew
- We take work here
- Not yet
- Fees checked
- 2026-09-30
Fees
South Ayrshire discounts renewals, and by a wide margin on home letting — £90 to renew against £150 to apply new.
New licence
| Licence type | Up to 4 guests | 5 or more guests |
|---|---|---|
| Secondary let | £300.00 | £480.00 |
| Home sharing or home letting (or both) | £150.00 | £300.00 |
Renewal
| Licence type | Up to 4 guests | 5 or more guests |
|---|---|---|
| Secondary let | £240.00 | £420.00 |
| Home sharing or home letting (or both) | £90.00 | £240.00 |
Other application types
| Temporary licence | £120.00 |
|---|---|
| Variation | £90.00 |
| Replacement or duplicate licence | £60.00 |
Fees read from South Ayrshire Council's own published schedule on 2026-09-30 — source. Council fees are paid by you directly to the council. We never add to them and they never pass through our books.
What it comes to
- Our fee
- £319
- South Ayrshire's fee
- £240, paid direct to the council
- Gas safety certificate
- £29, paid direct to the engineer
- Total
- £588
What is specific to South Ayrshire
- Renewing is 20% cheaper than applying new on a secondary let, and 40% cheaper on home letting. Missing the deadline turns a renewal into a new application and costs you the difference.
- One of the cheaper councils in Scotland — a four-guest secondary let renews for £240, against £1,053 in Edinburgh.
- South Ayrshire publishes its register as a downloadable spreadsheet.
What a renewal requires
A renewal is not a lighter version of a first application. It takes the identical document pack:
- EICR electrical reportevery 5 years
- Gas safety certificateevery 12 months
- PAT testing certificateevery 12 months
- Fire risk assessmentperiodic Plus the fire safety checklist, held on site
- Scottish Fire & Rescue safety checklistevery renewal
- Legionella risk assessmentperiodic You can do this one yourself
- Insurance evidence, minimum £2m liabilityevery renewal
- Floor plan and location planevery renewal
- Owner declarationsevery renewal
- Signed Certificate of Complianceevery renewal
- Mandatory-conditions checklistevery renewal
How to find your own expiry date
South Ayrshire Council publishes a public register of licensed short-term lets, as every Scottish council must. Your licence details are in it.
Open the South Ayrshire public register
Search for your property address or your own name. If the register does not show an expiry date — most do not — work from your grant date and add the licence period above. If you applied in the 2023 window, your licence expires this autumn.
You do not need us for this part. The register is public and the date is free to find. What we sell is the work between knowing the date and filing the pack.
What other councils charge
Fees are set locally and the spread across Scotland is wide, so a figure from a neighbouring authority is not a guide to this one. West Lothian, City of Edinburgh, Dumfries & Galloway, East Dunbartonshire, East Renfrewshire — or the full list of council guides.
If you are not sure when your licence runs out, the dates and what happens if you miss them is the place to start.