Just 1.3% of short-term lettings compliant with planning laws

Register for all short-term lets to be introduced from May

Recent figures showed that there were nearly 22,000 properties advertised on short-term letting websites.

Just 1.3% of short-term lettings are compliant with planning laws, it has emerged.

The Oireachtas committee on enterprise, tourism and employment discussed the planned Short Term Letting and Tourism Bill, which will introduce a register for all short-term lets from May, with Fáilte Ireland in charge of implementing and managing the register.

Hosts offering accommodation for periods up to 21 nights will be obliged to register and hold a valid registration number. 

This must be displayed when advertising their property.

The legislation will restrict short-term lets in towns with populations of more than 10,000 people. 

However, people in these towns will still be allowed to rent out their primary residences for up to 90 days.

The bill will also introduce sanctions for hosts who do not have a registration number. 

The legislation will restrict short-term lets in towns with populations of more than 10,000 people. 

An administrative financial sanction procedure will also be introduced for platforms that do not comply with their obligations.

Recent figures showed that there were nearly 22,000 properties advertised on short-term letting websites, offering tourists, holidaymakers, and those heading to concerts and events the opportunity to rent “entire” houses or properties, compared to around 1,800 homes on property sites.

However, addressing the committee, Paul Hogan, assistant secretary general in the Department of Housing, said that planning permissions for change of use — required for use as a short-stay accommodation — have been minuscule since the regulations came in in 2019.

Mr Hogan said that the greatest challenge in the enforcement of planning rules for short-term lets is "identifying where properties are located, as often the address is not visible until a person books and pays for the property".

"This restricts the proactive ability of local authorities to identify properties, as well as making it difficult for local residents to report properties.

"Local authorities have provided information to the Department in relation to planning applications and enforcement actions since July 1, 2019 (when the 2019 Regulations came into effect) up to and including November 2024.

"In this time, the local authorities have reported that there have been 426 change of use planning applications received nationally for a change of use to short-term letting."

Based on Fáilte Ireland data, just 1.3% of all short-term let properties in Ireland are compliant as of May 2025. To date, 186 planning permissions have been granted, which equates to a 43.6% approval rate, he said.