Fife Council to change accommodation rules to cope with 50,000 fans at Women’s Open in St Andrews

The event is one of five major championships in women’s golf and will bring the top names to the Home of Golf between August 21-23.

On Thursday, Fife Council will discuss plans to grant temporary extensions for Short Term Lets (SLT) to property owners which would allow them to operate without the necessary licence for up to six weeks.

The local authority’s policy allows its head of housing to make the change for any national events, and the scale of, and interest in, the women’s championships could see the council swamped with applications. A report to next week’s Cabinet meeting outlined two options with a recommendation to make the temporary change.

Option one would see the competition declared a national event which would enable the housing service to grant applications for temporary exemptions - and neighbours would not have the opportunity to object to any being granted.

But a report warned councillors: “An increased workload may be difficult to manage for a team that is already very busy. Properties that are granted temporary exemptions will not be inspected.”Option two would be to stick with its existing policy, but the report warns there may then be a lack of SLTs in St Andrews to meet demand which could see visitors “housed unlawfully” and the council open to accusations that it is “not supporting women’s sport.”

The document added: “There is an anticipated increased need for short-term lets in St Andrews to accommodate these visitors on a temporary basis. It is hoped that allowing temporary exemptions will allow this need to be addressed.”

The Women’s Open was first established in 1976 and is now organised by The R&A. A field of some 144 players is expected to compete for the championship trophy with the low amateur, who plays 72 holes, awarded the Smyth Salver. American Lilia Vu is the defending champion after her victory at Walton Heath in 2023 – her second major title.