Tuesday January 27th 2026
Plans to turn two Berkeley Street townhouses into short-stay flats will go before councillors this week.
Written by Local Democracy Reporter, Drew Sandelands
Plans to turn two Glasgow townhouses into holiday lets have been rejected due to the city’s housing emergency.
Gurmit Dhaliwal asked Glasgow City Council for permission to convert B-listed buildings on Berkeley Street to use as part of his “short-term lettings business”.
Planners at the council said the proposal was “incompatible” with the Park conservation area, and warned about the loss of residential properties.
Now, councillors on the city’s planning committee have decided to reject the application. The owner wanted to use the eight flats across the two townhouses at 75 and 77 Berkeley Street as short-stay and tourist accommodation.
Cllr Paul Leinster, SNP, said: “I see no reason why we should take eight homes out of use and turn them into tourist accommodation.
“There’s nothing I’ve heard and no reason I can think of why we should grant this, particularly as we’ve discussed the housing emergency we’ve declared and we are going through.”
He added it is “quite a desirable area” and said: “Once they’re marketed, they’ll be snapped up.”
Anderston Community Council and a neighbour objected to the plans while six letters of support for the proposal were submitted.
The community council claimed the change of use could “worsen the Glasgow housing emergency” and also raised fears over it becoming “party flats”. Supporters said self-catering accommodation would be “a good idea in a busy, visitor-focused area”.
Currently, four of the eight flats are in use as residential properties.
A council planner said: “From our perspective, we want to encourage the use as residential, not as short-term let.
“That’s what the very specific local policy for the Park conservation area says. This is a neighbourhood that is changing back from commercial to residential. It is a neighbourhood where housing is in demand.”
He later added: “If we refuse the application, the applicant can continue to let out all eight premises as mainstream residential. From a businessman’s perspective, he will continue to make an income from letting out these flats.”
The applicant had said entry to the short-term lets would be by a keypad and a four-night minimum stay requirement was expected to be imposed.
“Clear guidelines and house rules shall be detailed, to ensure guests are further clearly instructed to keep noise to a minimum and to respect neighbouring amenity,” the application added.
But in a report to the planning committee, council officials stated: “The proposal would result in the unacceptable loss of eight residential apartments… and would introduce an intensive and incompatible commercial short-term letting accommodation into the conservation area, where such a change is strongly resisted in order to preserve residential amenity.”
“No supporting information has been provided demonstrating that the existing residential use is no longer sustainable, nor that there is no rental interest in these properties,” it added.
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