Wednesday March 4th 2026
Heriot Row, Edinburgh
Written by Local Democracy Reporter, Joe Sullivan
A ‘Harry Potter party’ short-term let’s manager has been required to hire a professional management firm for the property after making ‘uncomfortable’ remarks during a meeting.
The Heriot Row flat, managed by Cara Branders Bailey Watt and owned by her sister, was up for licence renewal at Tuesday’s licensing meeting.
One objector, who lives in the same close, was in attendance in person at the meeting, while Ms Watt attended the meeting virtually.
The objector said: “We have a shared stairwell, so the noise carries, and we’ve had several loud disturbances. We’ve had drunken people on the shared stairwell.
“I have a child who is neurodivergent, and I have an 82 year old father-in-law who often hops over for dinner three times a week.
“There’ll be many disagreeable, very drunk people on the stairwell. Often times I have not felt safe in my own home.”
She added: “The website mentions modern features, including stereo music to all public rooms and the master bedroom. It mentions JK Rowling had her portrait taken there.
“It feels like it’s become a party with Harry Potter, and I would like some steps taken to let the people renting the property understand that it’s in a residential area.”
She further said she hoped people letting the property would have more respect for the property and give a heads up if they were to be holding a party, and added that she wanted to hear an apology from the short-term let’s manager.
The objector added that she had contacted Ms Watt on two occasions asking for high levels of noise from the short-term let to be addressed.
On one occasion, when she reached out close to midnight, she said she had received a response on the same day – but the second time she did not hear back until the next morning.
Ms Watt said that she did not receive the second contact, which was at around 9.30pm, until late ‘because it was a Friday night’, and that she thought the objector would not want to be responded to at that hour.
She added that a party was being held at the flat that night by a Canadian couple who were visiting the property again after a decade.
Ms Watt continued that the objector’s family were ‘far from friendly’, and added that they were ‘not shy on challenging guests’ – and therefore could not be worried about their safety.
Further, she said that when her own family stayed in the short term let, the objector’s family made noise that could be heard in the shared stairwell.
She added: “The family accepted a certain amount of territorial right over the stairwell.
They are people who introduce ornaments, lights, all sorts of things in the stairwell. They litter the stairwell with packages, and feel it is their right.”
All the while, the objector shook her head at Ms Watt’s comments, and several councillors exchanged confused looks.
Liberal Democrat councillor Jack Caldwell addressed Ms Watt, saying: “Firstly, if your neighbours raise a complaint, you must understand how that would feel to not have a response.
“The second part of that is, given there is a strained relationship, have you considered a management agency that would have the ability to deal with matters?”
Ms Watt replied: “I’m just not sure what you’re saying is not a response. I didn’t think Mrs Wallace would like a message at [a late hour].”
Green councillor Chas Booth put it to Ms Watt that she was deflecting her responsibility for the guests at her short-term let, and asked if she was effectively managing it.
She replied: “I would like to understand what you would expect me to do? Because I’m quite happy to do that, perhaps we install CCTV cameras in the stairwell, if somebody was acting in an antisocial way we would be more than outraged by that.
“I would do anything that was possible to avoid that. I’m not sure what to do because I’ve had two noise complaints from Mrs Wallace in the past year.”
Answering a question from Cllr Booth, the objector said: “It’s all hearsay, we’re very friendly people. Parties are absolutely fine, just let me know when they’re happening.
“No activity, no duty of care I fear, and I do have two vulnerable people using the stairwell. I think human kindness is what I’m looking for.”
Cllr Booth asked: “Would it be competent for us, for example, to require a property management company is used to manage the short term let?”
Cllr Mowat replied: “We’ve certainly used that before.”
She continued: Some of you [running a short-term let] might not welcome a text at a quarter to midnight, but that’s what you get your money for.
“The neighbour who is concerned does not want to be texting someone at quarter to eleven, quarter to midnight.
“I’m not comfortable with the responses we’ve heard from the applicant today. I don’t think we have the management we would want to see.”
The committee began to coalesce around a position of requiring that Ms Watt appoint a professional management company to handle the running of the short-term let.
When this was explained to Ms Watt, she said: “I believe that I have been incredibly responsive over the years, and I’m not disagreeing there is a slight breakdown in my relationship with the [objector’s family].
“To be honest I do not have a problem with a professional management company, that doesn’t bother me.
“But I would suggest that over our 22 years with incredibly high standards, incredibly high ratings by guests, repeat clients, what is being said is one person’s word against another.”
She then repeated her offer to install CCTV in the shared stairwell, to ‘allay any fears’ the objector’s family had.
Cllr Mowat replied: “That’s actually part of my problem, that the solution is to put CCTV in what is a private space for various homeowners.
“That for me is where this all comes to. It’s one of the fundamental difficulties of STLs, that people are running a business in people’s homes, because the stairwell is part of your home.
“That becomes the solution, and that is quite an intrusive solution. We can’t make any recommendations over that, and I think there’s a lot of issues that come with that.”
The committee then agreed to require Ms Watt appoint a professional management company to handle operations of the short-term let.
SNP councillor Norman Work put forward a position of not adding any condition to the licence, but he got no support.
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