Short-term rental bookings hit by lack of clarity over new rules

The Airbnb HQ in Dublin. The bill will mean owners of short-term rental properties in rent pressure zones must have the correct planning permission for their properties.

Bookings for Airbnb and other short-term lets for 2023 are being affected by a lack of clarity on new measures aimed at returning such homes in rent pressure zones to the long-term rental market.

That is the claim of the Irish Self-Catering Federation ahead of the introduction of the Planning and Development, Maritime and Valuation (Amendment) Bill 2022. 

Approval for the legislation is still awaited from the European Union, which is, the ISCF says, resulting in “uncertainty within the industry due to the lack of clarity on current and future trading conditions”.

The bill, which was signed into law in July, will mean owners of short-term rental properties in rent pressure zones across the country must have the correct planning permission for their properties. Failure to secure the correct planning will be an offence, both for the owner of the property and the online platform offering it for rent, such as Airbnb.

The aim of the measure is to return homes which do not have the correct planning for the long-term rental market. It is expected that homes in areas with high demand, and high rents, will be granted permission for short-term letting.

Delay to bookings

The federation says there has been a lack of clarity from government bodies on the changes which are expected to affect the owners of at least 6,500 properties She said: “People cannot continue in business because of this measure.” The federation says that the situation is now hindering the 2023 bookings process for their members.

One self-catering owner, Olivia O’Sullivan, from near Firies in Killarney, Co Kerry, has applied for planning permission to change the use of her family’s self-catering property for short-term letting purposes but has not yet secured it.

She says the property is in the Killarney rent pressure zone but is 11kms outside the town, which she says makes no sense.

She adds that the property her family had for self-catering is in a working farmyard, making it unsuitable for long-term rental.

A spokesman for the Department of Housing said engagement is continuing with relevant stakeholder groups on the detailed operational arrangements to be applied in relation to the proposed measure.

He added that is intended to conclude the consultation process as soon as possible.

• The Planning and Development, Maritime and Valuation (Amendment) Bill 2022 was signed into law by President Michael D Higgins in July. It has now been notified to the EU Commission under the requirements of the EU TRIS (Technical Regulation Information Society) Directive, regarding its potential implications for internal market and information society services in the EU.
• Online platforms such as Airbnb will not be able to advertise short-term properties for rent in rent pressure zones across the country if they do not have the correct planning permission. Both the property owner and the online platform can be deemed to have committed an offence by doing so.
• A property that is being used as a short term in a rent pressure zone must have planning permission allowing the property to be used for tourism and short-term letting purposes, in situations where a homeowner: (a) Lets out their entire home (principal private residence) for short-term lets of more than 90 days in total while they are away or (b) Lets out a second property for short-term lets.
• The intention of the new legislation is to bring properties in rent pressure zones which were being used for short-term lets back into long-term rental market. Short-term lets in rent pressure zones are being targeted because those areas are where the rents are highest, and where they continue to increase.
• It had been expected that the new law would become effective from September 1 but there is as yet no implementation date.