Concern over number of short-term lets in Cork 

Homes being let out to tourists rather than rented to people as their long-term residence is putting a huge strain on the housing market, according to housing charity Threshold.

Figures show that nearly seven times as many property owners were granted planning permission to rent their property as short-term lets in Co Cork than everywhere else in the country put together.

Housing minister James Browne said local planning authorities are responsible for the implementation and enforcement of short-term letting planning arrangements and submit quarterly data returns to the department.

The minister provided figures based on this local data to Labour TD Conor Sheehan, adding that the returns for December 2024 were not included as they are not yet finalised.

In 2024, a total of 100 planning permissions were granted for change of use to short-term letting nationally — 87 of these were in Cork county, and just 13 in the rest of Ireland combined.

No permissions were granted in Cork city or in another 14 local authorities.

A circular on short-term letting published by the department said that home sharing, the letting of a room or rooms within a home, “can be an important source of income” which can support a person’s security of tenure, and also supports tourism.

The document continued: “However, a significant concern is that the ability to use online platforms may encourage landlords, who normally provide residential rental accommodation to tenants, to seek to obtain higher returns by ceasing residential letting and moving to short-term letting to tourist and business traveller customers; or investors to purchase residential units for short-term letting as an investment option.

“Both of these scenarios involve residential properties being lost to the residential housing system, meaning that less long-term and secure accommodation will be available to the growing numbers of families and people who need it.”

It comes as Threshold expressed concern at the number of entire homes advertised as short-term lets compared to the number available in the private rental market. Threshold compiled data from Inside Airbnb, which examines figures from around the world from the well-known homestays website.

It shows that, as of the end of last year, 616 listings in Cork city and county are entire properties advertised by hosts with more than two properties. Meanwhile, Daft.ie displayed only 140 properties to rent in all of Cork on the same date.

Call for legislation to be advanced 

Threshold’s southern regional manager Edel Conlon told The Echo that the Government must “advance the new short-term letting and tourism bill to help return homes back to the rental market to address the housing need in Cork”.

She said: “There’s very few new rental properties being added to the market outside of Dublin, which is stark, because there are people coming to us with notices to leave their rental property on a daily basis.”

A spokesperson for Airbnb said: “This data is not reflective of what we see on the platform. 

“A typical host in Ireland shares one home for less than four nights a month and nearly nine in 10 entire home hosts share only one listing [Airbnb internal data as of January 2025].

“The majority of listings are outside Dublin and part of the rural tourism economy, and almost half of hosts say the extra income helps them afford to stay in their home. 

“While Airbnb is not the cause of long standing housing challenges, we will continue to work with the Government as it looks to bring in new regulation. 

“We have long called for Ireland to introduce proportional short-term let rules, including a host register, that protect the families, communities, and businesses that depend on tourism.”

The Echo contacted Cork County Council for comment.