Short-term rental providers say they'll be 'criminalised' with the 'stroke of a pen'

It is widely recognised that the bill, when aligned with planning guidelines, primarily seeks to encourage short-term providers to switch to long-term arrangements to help with the housing crisis. File picture

Owners of short-term rental properties in southeast rent pressure zones say upcoming legislation to register their properties will devastate their enterprises.

The concern relates to the Government’s proposed Registration of Short Term Tourism Letting Bill, which will configure an EU law compelling providers in such zones to register their premises annually.

The bill, to be administered by Fáilte Ireland, intends to quantify, regulate, and control an expanding market in which online platforms like Airbnb and Expedia are increasingly prevalent.

It is widely recognised that the bill, when aligned with planning guidelines, primarily seeks to encourage short-term providers to switch to long-term arrangements to help with the housing crisis.

Fáilte Ireland estimates there are 34,000 short-term let properties in the tourism sector, which are advertised online, and says the new bill could deliver up to 10,700 properties for long-term housing.

Under its enforcement powers, the tourism body may prosecute unregistered operators, with fines of up to €5,000.

Over 50 short-term let providers attached to the Southeast Airbnb Host Club Facebook page met in New Ross recently to address the situation.

Member Robbyn Swan says members “fully support” the EU’s registration requirements but believe “linking short-term rental (STR) registration to planning will be cost prohibitive for many small businesses and drive them out of the sector”.

Susan Devane, who leases small, refurbished buildings on the family dairy farm in Wexford agreed with this sentiment.

“Some members are already declining advance bookings and expect to close," she says, criticising the “total lack of consultation”.

Ms Devane says STRs will not "suddenly morph into thousands of long lets, because many premises, for various reasons, are unsuitable for such rentals. It may even exacerbate the housing crisis”.

She is critical of the Government’s ‘one size fits all’ approach, saying it erroneously associates STR with tourism alone. 

“I’m currently accommodating workmen laying cables in the area," she says. 

“Hotels are not for everyone. They want to light the fire, watch television, and so on. If I close, where do they go?” 

Also in Wexford, Lynnie O’Connell, whose farmland facilities include safari tent accommodation, says that “the stroke of a pen” threatens to “criminalise” providers.

She warns that “an area could suddenly be declared a rent pressure zone, with advanced bookings “suddenly made illegal and invalid”.

A statement from the Department of Tourism says the proposed bill “remains the subject of ongoing engagement with the EU Commission”, with conclusion and publication due in the coming months.

The statement says “significant engagement” has occurred with the Irish Self Catering Federation (ISCF) and other stakeholders, but further consultation is pending on government approval of the revised scheme.