Airbnb Ireland: Short-term lets outnumber homes to rent 4:1

Tenants’ advocacy charity Threshold revealed that there are four times as many Airbnbs as full-time private rental properties in Ireland, and said measures must be taken to ensure homes don't become short-term holiday lets. Stock picture: Alamy

Some counties have more than 25 times as many Airbnbs as homes to rent, a report has found, prompting calls for the Government to take urgent action to prevent homes from becoming short-term rentals.

A new analysis of the stock of short-term rental homes shows that there are now at least four times as many Airbnbs as full-time private rental properties available nationwide — 8,600 versus 2,100.

That figure is also likely to be very conservative, given that the analysis — carried out by tenants’ advocacy charity Threshold — did not take into account Airbnb postings where the host had only one listing, given that property could potentially be the family home.

When such postings are taken into account, there are 20,039 properties available for short-term lettings in Ireland — nearly 10 times the number of private rentals available.

Threshold said that the worrying figures, which are particularly skewed in rural areas, show that housing supply is not entirely predicated on building new homes, but is also about ensuring existing homes are prevented from becoming short-term holiday lets.

The charity’s chief executive, John-Mark McCafferty, said that the figures show “every policy lever available” needs to be pulled in order to increase supply and ease the chronic lack of rentals.

“This means protecting existing homes, so they are available to rent long-term for families and people who need somewhere secure to live,” he said.

The charity said it is “deeply concerning” that the Government recently altered its planned policy of restricting the number of short-term lets in small towns by raising the population limit for towns to be affected by such an action from 10,000 to 20,000.

Threshold’s analysis shows that, in some rural regions, the gap between short-term lettings and private rentals has become a chasm.

Kerry has 31 Airbnbs for every home 

In Cork City and county, there are 3.7 Airbnbs for every private home available to rent.

However, that imbalance is dwarfed by the same metric elsewhere.

The worst ratio is in Kerry, a county traditionally heavily dependent upon tourist income where there are 1,009 short-term rentals compared to just 33 homes advertised for rent, a ratio of 31:1.

28 Airbnbs in Clare for every home  

In Clare, that ratio is 28:1 with 532 short-term lets advertised and just 19 private rents available.

The situation is similarly stark in Donegal, Mayo, and Leitrim, with 24, 14, and 12 short-term lets for every one private rental respectively.

“Our analysis shows that nationally there are over four short-term lets for every one home available to rent. In several counties, the imbalance is far more extreme,” Mr McCafferty said.

“These are communities at risk of being hollowed out, where homes sit empty or underused for parts of the year while workers and families cannot find anywhere to live.”