Latest news with #ShortTermLettingandTourismBill
Extra.ie
2 days ago
- Business
- Extra.ie
Thousands of Airbnb lettings set to become illegal from tomorrow
Housing Minister James Browne will not exempt short-term lets from emergency laws, which means thousands of Airbnb-type lettings will not be able to operate legally this weekend. The Dáil voted last night to approve emergency legislation to extend Rent Pressure Zones to the entire country. Under RPZ rules, short-term lets such as Airbnb are required to have planning permission in order to operate. Thousands of these properties will be subsumed into RPZs as early as tomorrow, when it is expected the legislation will be signed into law. Under RPZ rules, someone can let their entire home for a maximum of 90 days without planning permission, but only if it is their principal private residence. Housing Minister James Browne will not exempt short-term lets from emergency laws, which means thousands of Airbnb-type lettings will not be able to operate legally this weekend. Pic: Daniel Krason/Shutterstock A spokeswoman for the Housing Minister has confirmed to that there will be no exemptions made, despite the change effectively rendering thousands of Airbnb rentals illegal within days. 'RPZ rules will apply as they do currently when new areas are zoned as an RPZ,' she said. It comes despite lobbying from within the coalition against such an approach. Michael Healy Rae told the Irish Times on Wednesday that he was concerned about the impact the measures would have. Meanwhile, several senior sources told they expected the new laws to be flouted. Pic: Gareth Chaney/Collins They said that, as there is so little compliance and enforcement of the existing rules, they did not expect it to be an issue. 'We don't really expect there to be people hauled up before the courts as a result of this because they aren't being brought up in counties already in RPZs where they are clearly operating,' one source said. 'It's a matter for planning ultimately, but the current regime isn't being implemented,' a separate Government source said. The extension of the RPZs is part of a suite of changes to the rental market that were announced by Minister Browne last week. Pic: Colin Keegan, Collins Dublin It is understood that Mr Browne will insist that any further changes to short-term lets will only be permitted in the Short Term Letting and Tourism Bill, which is in the early stages of making its way through the Oireachtas. The extension of the RPZs is part of a suite of changes to the rental market that were announced by Minister Browne last week. Opposition TDs were scathing in their criticism of the Government's changes to the rental market last night. Sinn Féin housing spokesman Eoin Ó Broin described the emergency legislation as an 'utter shambles'. 'In my entire time in Dáil Éireann, I have never witnessed a more haphazard, back-of-the-envelope process for putting in place widespread reforms that are going to impact tens of thousands of people,' he said. Labour TD Conor Sheehan said the announcement of the rent reform plans was 'nothing short of shambolic'.
Irish Times
30-04-2025
- Business
- Irish Times
Clamping down on Airbnb should be scrapped
In its desperate search for someone other than itself to blame for the housing shortage, the Government has made a scapegoat of Airbnb and other short-term lettings websites. It seems to have got the idea from other countries that have clamped down on such lettings in response to public discontent. The Short Term Letting and Tourism Bill, which the Government says will result in roughly 10,000 out of 32,000 short-term letting properties returning or shifting to the long-term rental market, is making its way through the Oireachtas, and is expected to come into effect in May next year. It may be something of a drop in the ocean in terms of the overall housing crisis, but it plays well with an increasingly irritated public. Once the legislation comes into effect Airbnb and other short-term letting providers will only be able to list properties that are on a new register of short-term lets operated by Fáilte Ireland, which will in turn allow local authorities to determine whether the property has the necessary planning permission. The presumption is that many properties in cities and larger urban areas will not have – and can't get – planning permission to operate as a short-term rental. READ MORE Unfortunately – for the Government at least – the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) has thrown a spanner in the works. Last week the government-funded independent think tank published research which challenges both the efficacy and the necessity of the legislation. The first of several problems it raises is that many rural Airbnbs are originally holiday homes, according to the 2016 census. It points out that there is no guarantee that driving their owners out of the short-term letting market – because they don't have planning permission - will result in properties being put on the long-term rental market. Owners might just keep them as holiday homes. Presumably many owners are still using them as holidays homes in between short-term lets. The ESRI also points out that international experience shows the sort of regulatory approach being contemplated here only works if it is rigorously implemented. 'Only the stricter forms of regulation appear to lead to a decrease in long-term housing market prices,' it warns. The decision to push the responsibility for policing whether Airbnbs are registered on to the platforms may be smart but it will not be sufficient. For the approach to work it will require the local authorities to do the hard work of matching properties to planning permissions and bringing enforcement actions where they do not comply. It is a reasonable question to ask – although the ESRI doesn't do so – if local authorities have the will and wherewithal to do so at a pace which will be effective given the demands already placed on their planning departments by other Government policies aimed at getting more houses built. Many Airbnb landlords will be aware of this and tempted to keep going until they are told to stop as any fines are likely to be at the lower end of the scale. Summary convictions for breach of planning attract a €5,000 fine. But even assuming both of these obstacles can be overcome and the Government achieves its target of adding 10,000 properties to the long-term rental market the question remains as to whether it will make any recognisable dent in the housing shortage. The ESRI points out that the increase in Airbnb rentals between 2019 and 2023 cannot be linked to falls in new tenancies. 'This does not mean that Airbnb activity has not had a detrimental impact on the PRS (private rental sector) in specific local markets, but it does not appear to be the root cause of the observed falls in available PRS accommodation nationwide,' it says. It extrapolates that this means that even if Airbnb landlords are forced back into the long-term rental market there is no guarantee it will lead to any significant impact on rents. Taken in the round the ESRI report amounts to a lot of cold water to be poured over any one piece of proposed legislation. But will it be enough to force the Government to rethink? Perhaps limited resources – and Oireachtas time – could be better deployed addressing a real cause of the housing shortage? One area – which the ESRI report indirectly lends support to – is a review of the current rent cap regime which is already identified as a barrier to institutional and private investment in the rental market. The single biggest reason that owners opt for short-term leases over long-term ones is the discrepancy between the rent that can be earned. On average properties in coastal areas need to be let for only six to eight days per month, and in Dublin city for eight to 10 days per month, to match long-term rents, says the ESRI. There is potentially an opportunity here to kill two birds with the one stone, but this level of joined up thinking when it comes to addressing the housing market seems to have escaped the current Government and its predecessors to date. There is some opposition in Government to the legislation, but it is clientilist in nature rather than fundamental. It seems unlikely then that the ESRI research will lead to the abandoning of a careless piece of legislation which would seem to have popular and cross-party support.
Irish Independent
29-04-2025
- Business
- Irish Independent
Tempers flare in Kerry council over housing and short term letting for tourism
Independent Councillor Brendan Cronin and Independent Councillor Jackie Healy-Rae both tabled similar motions raising fears for the clampdown on short term letting and its impact on the tourism sector in Kerry. Cllr Cronin called on the government, and Kerry's government supporting ministers and TDs, to oppose the move which would have 'devastating financial' consequences on tourism, local businesses, and families that depend on a yearly income. Similarly, Cllr Healy-Rae asked the council to write to the Minister for Housing and Minister for Tourism highlighting concerns regarding proposals to restrict short term letting/self-catering providers. He said this would adversely affect the tourism industry in the county. The Short Term Letting and Tourism Bill has been brought forward by the government and will see a register of short-term lets created by May 2026. This will be managed by Fáilte Ireland and provide a stock of registered tourist accommodation, some of which may be altered in rent pressure zones where they could be used instead for full-time accommodation. While both Cllr Cronin and Cllr Healy-Rae's motions were seconded, Sinn Féin Councillor Deirdre Ferris referred to them as 'hypocritical' in light of the more serious issue of homelessness and an accommodation shortage that families and individuals face in the county. The row erupted when Cllr Ferris opposed the motions, saying she wanted her objection noted. Cllr Healy-Rae then accused her of 'going off on a right one today' and that he did not like being referred to as hypocritical on the matter of accommodation for constituents. Confusion set in for a few moments when it was thought the motions were being amended and put to a vote in the council chamber. Cllr Brendan Cronin said he had 'no intention' of amending his motion for anyone. Cllr Ferris told Cllr Healy-Rae that she has always voiced her opposition on the things she disagrees with in the council, and there is nothing unique about this particular disagreement. She called the motions 'hypocritical' and disagreed that a loss of income from reduced tourist accommodation should in anyway supersede those people without accommodation and who face homelessness. 'Housing is at crisis point here. I just feel this is a far more important issue. Children in Kerry deserve the right to grow up with the security of a home and roof over their heads,' Cllr Ferris said. 'Couples in their 20s and 30s are entitled to move out of home and build a life for themselves…I made it perfectly clear that I was opposing the motions overall. I want my objection to this noted,' she added.
