Short-term letting in Perth, Dundee and Highland Perthshire

This market links two very different places. Dundee has reinvented its waterfront around the V&A museum and draws city-break visitors, students' families and business travellers. Perth and Kinross is a gateway to Highland Perthshire: Pitlochry, Aberfeldy, Dunkeld, Loch Tay and Gleneagles, with golf, salmon rivers, walking and weddings in country houses. City flats and rural cottages behave as two separate products and deserve separate plans.

Licensing everywhere, planning control possibly coming

Both councils apply the Scottish short-term let licence: no bookings before the licence is granted, and conditions covering fire safety, gas and electrics, insurance, the energy performance certificate and guest numbers. Neither area has a control area in force today. That may change in Perth and Kinross. On 17 June 2026 the council agreed to ask Scottish Ministers to approve a control area covering Highland Perthshire and the northern part of Eastern Perthshire. If Ministers approve it, using a whole home that is not your main residence as a short let there will need planning permission. The city of Perth and Dundee are not covered by that proposal.

So a cottage near Pitlochry or Aberfeldy is a different decision from a flat in Perth city centre. For the former, check whether it falls inside the proposed boundary and whether an existing let can show lawful use before the designation. For flats in either city, the usual case-by-case test for change of use still applies, and a shared entrance with permanent residents invites closer scrutiny.

Levies and local taxes

• Perth and Kinross and Dundee City are both consulting on visitor levies; neither has approved a scheme yet.
• A property available for 140 nights and let for 70 in the financial year can be rated as non-domestic, on evidence to the assessor.
• Below those thresholds council tax applies, and Scottish councils may set second-home premiums above double the standard charge since April 2026; check each council's current policy.

Our advice

In rural Perthshire, move quickly on licensing and planning evidence while the control area decision is pending; record when your letting use began. In Dundee, think about midweek business demand as well as weekends. Tell us about your property; we study every request and tell you honestly whether and how we can help.

From Discovery Point to Scone and Blair Atholl

Dundee's waterfront holds more than one museum. RRS Discovery, the ship that carried Scott to the Antarctic, is moored beside the V&A, and Dundee Contemporary Arts keeps a lively cinema and gallery programme. Broughty Ferry, with its castle, beach and pubs, is the address many visitors choose for a seaside feel within the city. The University of Dundee, Abertay with its games courses and Ninewells Hospital generate midweek stays, and St Andrews lies just across the Tay road bridge, useful for golfers who prefer city prices.

On the Perth side, Scone Palace, where Scottish kings were crowned, sits beside Perth racecourse, and the concert hall brings touring shows. Kinross serves walkers and cyclists on the Loch Leven heritage trail, with boat trips to the island castle once used to hold Mary, Queen of Scots. Further north, Blair Castle hosts international horse trials each August, Pitlochry has its Festival Theatre, and the autumn light trail in the woods near the town sells out evenings.

Consequences for owners

• In Broughty Ferry and the West End of Dundee, family houses suit groups visiting students or patients.
• Along the A9, many guests are touring north and stay one or two nights; a smooth self check-in and early luggage drop help.
• Rural properties near Blair Atholl need clear directions: sat-nav postcodes can mislead on estate roads.