Edinburgh set to introduce levy on accommodation

Edinburgh is set to be the latest European city to introduce a nightly tax on visitor accommodation.

The Scottish capital is moving ahead with a plan to launch a Transient Visitor Levy (TVL) covering hotels, bed-and-breakfasts and self-catering accommodation.

The city’s council has voted in favour of draft proposals to impose a 5 per cent per night charge on the cost of accommodation, which will be capped at seven consecutive nights.

Edinburgh is following in the footsteps of other major cities such as Venice, Barcelona and Rome in introducing similar charges for overnight stays. Another UK city, Manchester, imposed a £1 per night charge on all accommodation bookings in 2023.

The new visitor tax will aim to raise up to £50 million per year to be used to fund improvements in Edinburgh.

The city council will now hold a 12-week consultation period with Edinburgh residents to ask whether the accommodation levy should be set at a higher or lower level than currently proposed.

A final decision on the charge will then be taken by the council in January 2025, with implementation of the levy set for mid-2026 at the earliest to comply with local laws in Scotland.