Short-term lets in areas of high demand could house almost 50,000 people, report finds

Concerns have been raised internationally that short-term lets such as Airbnbs have removed long-term housing stock from the market and contributed to rising rental and housing costs through constrained supply. File picture

Short-term lets in areas of high demand could house almost 50,000 people if brought back into use as long-term housing, an independent analysis has found.

Consultancy firm Indecon, appointed by the Housing Agency to analyse short-term lets, found there are 28,342 available in Ireland, 32% of which are in Dublin and 87% in areas of high housing demand.

Of the short-term lets in areas of high demand, 16,870 were for commercial tourism, which could house 46,224 people if all were brought back into use for long-term housing.

Using comparisons to other countries’ efforts to regulate short-term lets, Indecon said a baseline scenario of between 3,100 and 5,500 units could be returned to the housing stock if the short-term let sector is regulated.

In cases where there is a higher impact, around 9,500 units could be reintroduced.

A ban on commercial tourism short-term lets would see a higher number of units returning as housing stock, it added.

“Should all 16,870 identified commercial tourism short-term lets in higher demand areas return to the longer term housing sector, a total estimated 46,224 people could be accommodated,” the report concluded.

“The potential housing capacity ranges between 6,300 and 26,100 people under the varying scenarios."

The Indecon analysis noted that there was “significant uncertainty” around the impacts of any regulation in Ireland, and their impact “will depend on the strength of enforcement”.

The Government intends to regulate the use of short-term lets through its Short-Term Letting and Tourism Bill 2026 and an accompanying national planning statement.

Concerns have been raised internationally that short-term lets such as Airbnbs have removed long-term housing stock from the market and contributed to rising rental and housing costs through constrained supply.

The Government’s bill would introduce a national register requiring anyone letting out a property for up to 21 consecutive nights a year to sign up, while a draft planning statement indicates short-term lets in 25 areas with populations above 20,000 will be restricted.

It comes as new figures show the Department of Housing is set to spend €2.4bn on homelessness supports since 2020.