Asbo crackdown on stag-party landlords is just weeks away

A LAW affecting stag and hen partygoers, who hire flats for their celebrations Scotland, is just weeks away from being imposed.

Under the tough new rules the landlords renting out flats to groups holding noisy parties and causing "misery" for residents could be hit with Asbos.

The regulations have now been lodged in the Scottish Parliament in a move aimed at properties, chiefly in Edinburgh, being rented out for weekends for "hugely disruptive" parties.

Scottish Government ministers confirmed yesterday that local councils could be handed powers by late March to restrict the numbers attending parties.

Under the policy as few as just two complaints about anti-social parties could trigger the Asbo process, which could see the landlord forced to provide on-site supervision or a point of contact for local residents to make complaints.

Another sanction against property owners renting out flats for the parties could force landlords to improve security at the site in a bid to tackle possible mayhem caused by revellers. Local councils would make a decision on the number of people attending a party based on the scale of the problem at a property where an Asbo has been imposed.

Labour MSP for Edinburgh Central, Sarah Boyack, who has campaigned for the rule change, said that up 100 properties were regularly used to host rowdy parties in the Scottish capital.

She said: "This is a hugely welcome decision to target anti-social parties.

"Some have 15 to 20 people at them making huge amounts of noise and stopping residents sleeping at night.

"Only two complaints about a holiday flat would be needed to qualify for action against the owner of a property.

"Some of these parties have been causing completely unacceptable levels of disruption to people living in central Edinburgh and other parts of the city."

The Asbos will be specifically targeted at venues, where property owners have failed to respond to complaints about anti-social behaviour.

Landlords handed the Asbos who then continue to allow the parties could face prosecution or be banned from renting out properties for holiday lets.

Housing and Communities Minister Alex Neil said: "Anti-social behaviour linked to a party flat can be hugely disruptive to residents.

"That is unacceptable. When it does occur it can cause misery for many people.That is why this Government has decided to introduce a change in the law that will increase powers available to councils to deal with the problem."

SNP Lothians MSP Shirley-Anne Somerville claimed the move would make it easier for councils to take action against irresponsible property owners.

She said: "These new rules rightly place more of the responsibility on the landlords who choose to rent out their accommodation to such groups."