Plans for Edinburgh holiday cottages on grounds of historic mansion refused

Plans for two former farm workers cottages within a historic Edinburgh estate to become holiday lets have been refused.

In July plans were submitted for two single-storey cottages on Drum Street to become short-term lets, one of which had already been operating as a holiday cottage prior to the application being submitted.

The second cottage within the grounds of the Drum Estate has reportedly lain empty and in a state of disrepair for years. However, council planners have decided to refuse permission, saying the loss of residential accommodation 'has not been justified'.

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The cottages are attached to a walled garden within the Drum estate. The estate buildings and grounds are designated as of national importance by Historic Scotland in their Inventory of Gardens and Designed Landscapes.

The centrepiece of the estate is the A-listed Palladian-style mansion designed by William Adam. The cottages are C-listed and the Drum is jointly owned by the More Nisbett family and the South-east Edinburgh Development Company.

The stone buildings are single-storey in height and are not close to any other properties. An application for change of use for both cottages was submitted in 2023, but subsequently withdrawn so the physical alterations now proposed could be included with the application.

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The applicant, Billy More Nisbitt, wishes to operate the cottages as holiday lets. Cottage one would have a single bedroom and could sleep three people with a fold-down bed in the sitting room. The second cottage would include two bedrooms and could sleep five-six people.

A previously submitted planning statement claimed the average stay for guests would be three to seven nights and the properties would be occupied 50 per cent of the year.

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However, council planners wrote: "The proposal is contrary to National Planning Framework Policy 30(e) in respect of Loss of Residential Accommodation. The loss of a residential property has not been justified.

"The loss of the residential accommodation has not been justified. Whilst it is recognised that there is an economic benefit to the city as a whole from the provision of tourist accommodation, in this case it does not outweigh the loss of residential accommodation."