NEW SHORT-TERM let regulations through a Fáilte Ireland registration system will be in place by next summer. 

A new licensing system will mean that property owners will not be able to advertise a short-term let unless they have received the required planning permission. 

The new system set out in the government’s new Housing For All plan launched today, is similar to a regime operating in Lisbon whereby before property owners can’t rent out their home to paying guests, unless they register the property with the local authorities.

The new housing plan states that during the period of the pandemic, much-needed accommodation, typically used for short-term letting purposes, returned to the long-term private rental sector, thereby increasing supply.

The Irish Times reported last month that figures from estate agent Sherry Fitzgerald showed that rental accommodation in Dublin jumped by over 90% last year due to landlords withdrawing their rentals from short-term listing sites such as Airbnb and placing them back on the normal rental market.

The new housing plan sets out that government will bring forward the revised regulatory controls requiring the registration of short-term and holiday lets with Fáilte Ireland.

Related Reads

Council investigated 400 short-term lets but won't be tracking rental ads during Covid-19

The Residential Tenancies Board will be tasked with an enforcement role as part of the process.

In an interview with The Journal before Christmas, the minister said discussions were under way between his department and the Department of Tourism (there had long been a spat about who might take the lead when Eoghan Murphy and Shane Ross were at loggerheads over it). 

O’Brien said now is the time to make the changes, adding that his department is engaging with some of the bigger short-term letting agencies, including Airbnb.