Kinsale councillor backs tighter controls on short-term rentals

A MOVE by the Government to tighten regulations on short-term letting has been welcomed by a Kinsale councillor, who said that locals in the area were struggling to compete for housing with landlords letting out properties short term to holidaymakers.

Darragh O’Brien, the housing minister, intends to bring in a law from September 1 that will prohibit online platforms such as Airbnb from advertising properties for short-term let that do not have the requisite planning permission.

Under the Planning and Development Act 2000 (Exempted Development) (No 2) Regulations 2019, a person must apply to their local authority for planning permission to change the use of the property so it can be used for tourism and short-term letting.

Housing charity Threshold has said the 2019 legislation on short-term letting “hasn’t worked”, as very few hosts sought planning permission, yet short lets hugely outnumber the availability of long-term rentals for families and individuals.

For example, there are 181 properties in Kinsale listed on Airbnb but only three listed for long-term rent on Daft.ie.

Mr O’Brien said the new controls would result in more homes returning to the long-term rental market in rent pressure zones, where rents are highest and where households have the greatest difficulty finding affordable accommodation.

Kinsale-based Fine Gael county councillor Kevin Murphy welcomed the move, saying that property owners in Kinsale have been increasingly turning to short-term letting in recent years, making it extremely difficult for those who wish to rent long term.

“A substantial amount of people out here at the moment are hoping to get some sort of accommodation at some reasonable cost, but effectively long-term rental stock is not very easy to come by,” he said.

“Landlords using the likes of Airbnb have got away with it for an awful long time but there has to be some method of making sure there’s a level playing pitch for all and sundry. People need to have the same cut off of the availability of accommodation,” he said.

The new controls are provided for in the Planning and Development (Amendment) (No 2) Bill. If passed, they will be in place for an initial six months, in which time the Department of Tourism and Fáilte Ireland will establish a new registration as committed to in Housing for All.

The bill is progressing through the Oireachtas and is expected to be enacted before the summer recess.