An Bord Pleanála denies developer permission to operate short-term lets in city centre

The An Bord Pleanála inspector said: 'Overall, I consider the change of use to be detrimental to the availability of housing stock.'

A developer has been denied planning permission to operate Airbnb rentals out of a city centre apartment because of the “precedent” it would set, An Bord Pleanála has said.

In a direction given earlier this month, the planning board said that the plan to retain the apartment on South Great George’s Street in Dublin for short-term letting would have a “negative impact on the availability of housing stock in the city”.

It comes as Minister for Housing Darragh O’Brien recently said that he hopes that the Government’s legislation to regulate the short-term letting industry will pass by the summer recess.

Irish Properties Ltd applied for retention permission for the change of use of the apartment from a service apartment for short-term letting, including Airbnb use last April. This bid was turned down by Dublin City Council, who stated that the precedent it would set would go against its city development plan.

“The Housing Need Demand Assessment recognises a high demand for long-term residential rental properties such as apartments in Dublin city where the emerging trend shows an increase of rental demand for this type of residential accommodation,” it said.

The proposed development resulting in the permanent loss of an apartment unit for residential use would be contrary to [a section of its plan] where there is a general presumption against the provision of short-term tourist rental accommodation in the city due to the impact on the availability of housing stock and would create a precedent for similar type undesirable development.

The developer appealed the case to An Bord Pleanála, and its inspector said it was argued that the apartment “is not suitable for standard residential accommodation due to its size and condition, and deficiencies in the building”.

As part of its appeal, it said: “The unit is not suitable for long-term rental and is only suitable for short-term letting to tourists.

“The location has a high concentration of night-time noisy activity. It is unsuitable for standard residential as residential amenity may be difficult to achieve. Short-term lettings in the city centre are good for tourism and the economy.” 

The An Bord Pleanála inspector said that if it were to allow the apartment to continue to be used as a short-term let, it would be contrary to the development plan.

“Overall, I consider the change of use to be detrimental to the availability of housing stock,” the inspector said.

“I do not consider the unit unsuitable for longer-occupancy, or that normal standards or residential amenity would not be achieved. In this regard I do not consider this to be a location where standard residential development is unsuitable due to night-time noisy activity.” 

An Bord Pleanála subsequently dismissed the appeal.

In February, the Irish Examiner reported that the Government’s plans to crack down on Airbnb and short-term lets were facing more delay, with the European Commission seeking “further consideration” of the legislation.

The legislation has been stymied for more than a year by the commission over concerns the laws would be too restrictive on companies like Airbnb to operate in Ireland. However, in an interview with RTÉ last week, Minister Darragh O’Brien said he was confident that it would be passed before the Oireachtas summer recess.