HOUSE rules which urge guests to be “considerate of neighbours” have not been enough to sway planners to allow a short-term holiday let to remain in place.

The flat on Dunbar’s Cromwell Court has been used for short-term residential lets since May 2022.

Stays at the two-bedroom property have ranged from two to 58 days, with an average stay of five days.

A statement alongside Sandra Stuart’s planning application argued for a certificate of lawfulness to be issued.

It claimed that use of a flat as a short-term let visitor accommodation did “not constitute a material change of use” from being operated as a residential flat.

However, East Lothian Council’s planning department turned down the application.

Its report reads: “The use of the applicant’s flat as a unit of short-term holiday let accommodation by a maximum of four guests would not be too dissimilar to the number of residents that could occupy the property in a residential use.

“However, as the flat is advertised on holiday rental platforms, coupled with the frequency of the arrival and departures of guests at various times and the movements associated with the changeovers and cleaning between guest stays, this would lead to a movement pattern which is different to that of a flat in use as a principal residence.

“Based on this information, it is considered that the use of the applicant’s first-floor flat for short-term holiday let accommodation constitutes a material change of use, requiring planning permission, where a lawful use cannot otherwise be demonstrated.”