Tuesday October 14th 2025
Flat in Vert Court, Haddington
Written by Local Democracy Reporter, Marie Sharp
The owners of an East Lothian flat were refused the right to rent it out for six weeks of the year by planners after an objector said it would “erode the community in the building”.
East Lothian planners rejected an application to change the use of the flat in Vert Court, Haddington, into a mixed use residential and short term let property describing it as “incompatible” and “harmful to” the amenity of other residents.
However an appeal next month will be told by the owners that the top floor flat is a family home which will be rented out just six weeks of the year in the summer making the impact on neighbours no more harmful than if it was used for full time residence.
The applications say: “This is our home, and we seek to let it only occasionally,
responsibly, and in a manner that protects both our family and the
wider community.”
Planners received just one objection to the proposals to change the use of the flat which is in a block of nine and shared a communal entrance and stairwell.
The objector told the council they were concerned that the short term let use of the flat could become “a regular and full-time operation”.
The planning officers report on the application which was submitted earlier this year said: “The objector also states that as they share a communal stairway with the applicant’s flat, along with the other flats in the building which are all permanent residences who know one another, any regular
use of the property as a short term let could erode the community in the building due the holiday/partying/transient nature of guests.”
Officers said that while the proposed short term let use was only for six weeks of the year, during that time it would involve a regular turnover of guests arriving and leaving with luggage and would lead to increased activity in the communal areas.
They said: ” It is accepted that permanent residents may also make noise
but they tend to keep their luggage in their homes and do not move them with the same frequency as regularly changing guests who arrive and depart sometimes at unsociable hours, and this differs from typical residential circumstances. ”
The appeal will be heard by the council’s Local Review Body next month.
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