More than 30 property owners in East Renfrewshire have joined a controversial new scheme aimed at controlling the number of homes being leased to tourists.

The Scottish Government launched its short-term lets initiative last year to deal with the rapid growth of Airbnb-style properties.

East Renfrewshire Council said 36 licence applications have been received locally since the scheme was introduced in October 2022.

Those who failed to lodge an application to register their property were warned they face a fine of up to £2,500 for non-compliance.

Separate figures published by the Scottish Government last week show that, across the country as a whole, 4,761 licence applications had been made in the nine-month period up to June 30 this year.

The new rules apply to all types of properties which are leased for short periods and also include people who house swap.

All dwellings will in future be subject to safety inspections by council officials.

As part of the scheme, each local authority can levy its own licence fee.

In East Renfrewshire, the charges range from £230 for a one-bedroom flat to £895 for a seven-bedroom property.

Licences must be renewed every three years.

A council spokesperson told the Barrhead News: “We have received 36 applications to date and are working on processing these.

"As it stands, seven applications have been approved and none have been rejected.”

The Association of Scotland’s Self-Caterers (ASSC) has claimed the new law will affect tourism and visitor numbers, with fewer places for people to stay.

Several MSPs, including the SNP’s Fergus Ewing, Labour’s Daniel Johnson and Lib Dem Willie Rennie, as well as Miles Briggs and Murdo Fraser, of the Scottish Conservatives, have called for the licence rollout to be paused.

The local authorities with the highest number of licence applications in the first nine months of the scheme were Highland, Fife and Dumfries & Galloway.

People offering short-term lets through the likes of Airbnb will not be able to operate without a licence after January 2025.

A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “Licensing of short-term lets will, for the first time, mean we have reliable and up-to-date data about the sector in Scotland.”