Two-thirds of people say short-term rentals have negative impact on housing market

A report by the European Commission showed people in Ireland and Greece feel the strongest of any Europeans about the effect that short-term rental accommodation has on their housing markets.

Two-thirds of Irish people claim the main disadvantage of Airbnb-style accommodation is its negative impact on the price and availability of housing, according to the findings of a new EU-wide survey.

A report by the European Commission showed people in Ireland and Greece feel the strongest of any Europeans about the effect that short-term rental accommodation has on their housing markets.

The Eurobarometer poll revealed 65% of respondents in both countries cited the impact on the cost and supply of housing as their main concern about short-term rental accommodation compared to the EU average of 42%.

Prior to the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, almost 7.2 million guest nights in short-term tourist accommodation in Ireland were booked over four leading online platforms — Airbnb, Booking, Expedia and Tripadvisor — in 2019, which represented an annual increase of 9.5%.

The figure includes almost 2.8 million guest nights spent in short-term rentals in Dublin.

In Dutch: In one blow #Airbnb loses three quarter of its supply in #Amsterdam because of mandatory registration - as part of the city's battle against too much tourism.
Interesting. https://t.co/5j3fBhiymE

— amsterdam_bill (@amsterdam_bill) October 18, 2021

Concern about the impact of such accommodation on the supply of housing in the capital given the chronic shortage of living space in the city led Dublin City Council to introduce new legislation in 2019 which imposes fines on anyone offering a property which is not their own private residence, as a short-term rental without planning permission.

The council has also adopted a policy of refusing planning permission for any development which would result in the loss of permanent residential units within rent pressure zones. Individuals who want to rent a room in their own home are now also required to register their property with the council.

At the time, it was estimated there were over 9,400 properties in Dublin listed on Airbnb alone with almost half offering the use of an entire house or apartment. In contrast to Irish people, most Europeans believe the biggest disadvantage of such accommodation is the increase in nuisance by tourists in an area.

The report involved a survey of 25,700 people across the 27 EU member states, including more than 1,000 in the Republic. The poll also revealed that Irish people had heightened insecurity feelings as a result of short-term rentals in their neighbourhood.

It showed 44% of Irish people believe they led to a decrease in their personal safety and security compared to the EU average of 27%.

In response to a separate question, however, three times as many Irish people said that such accommodation, on balance, has an overall positive effect on the quality of life in their neighbourhood than people who said it had a negative impact.

The survey also highlighted that almost two-thirds of Irish people have never booked Airbnb-style accommodation for a holiday or business trip. The poll shows that 64% of Irish respondents had never arranged short-term rental accommodation via an online platform.

Another 10% of Irish people said they used to book such accommodation over the internet in the past but no longer do so.

French people emerged as the most enthusiastic users of short-term rentals with 47% booking such accommodation online at least occasionally, while the least likely were Austrians with just 12% availing of such a facility. The figure for Ireland was 25% — the exact same as the EU average.

What's your view on this issue?

You can tell us here

However, 18% of Irish respondents said they would not recommend short-term rentals for accommodation — the second highest rate after Austria at 23%.

Irish people are also marginally more likely to have offered their own home or other property than other Europeans. The report shows 7% of Irish respondents had advertised a short-term rental online compared to the EU average of 6%.

However, that includes 3% who said they are no longer providing such accommodation. Among the main reasons why people cited they stopped offering short-term lets were that it was no longer economically beneficial, they had a bad experience with previous renters and bureaucracy.

The main advantage of short-term rentals is for generating an additional source of income for hosts, according to Irish respondents.

Price is the main reason why Irish and EU consumers choose to stay in short-term rental accommodation with 75% of Irish people stating it as a factor. Only 15% said they chose to stay in a room in a private residence because they liked staying with a local person.