Ireland is introducing some of the “strictest” rules on short-term lets in Europe, according to the Government, despite a new simplified planning process being brought forward to bring long-term hosts in line with the law.
Minister for Housing James Browne brought a long-awaited Short-Term Letting Bill to Cabinet on Tuesday, which will create a register for Airbnb-style holiday rentals.
The aim of the register is to try to force more holiday lets into the private rental market and restrict short-term lettings in towns with populations of more than 20,000 people.
A property will require planning permission to be allowed to be placed on the register. While short-term lets already require planning permission, the rules have previously been loosely and poorly enforced.
Those renting out properties in towns with populations of more than 20,000 people will have until December to come into compliance with the law. Those in areas with populations of under 20,000 will have a two-year grace period.
Those who have been renting out properties short-term for more than seven years without planning permission will also be given the opportunity to seek retention under a simplified process.
It is understood that such long-term operators will be afforded an administrative process which will not require them to submit drawings as part of their application.
A new National Planning Statement (NPS) for the short-term letting sector will offer a presumption in favour of granting planning permission for short-term letting where a dwelling has been used continuously for this purpose for at least seven years without enforcement action being taken.
This would only apply in cases where the proposal would not create serious traffic, flooding or pollution risks, or breach occupancy-related planning conditions.
Speaking at a press conference on Tuesday, Browne said there would be a “streamlined process” for those who have been operating short-term lets for seven years or longer to “regularise themselves”.
He said the two year grace period for those in smaller towns was to give people time to get on to the register and avoid a proposal that would prevent people from operating short-term lets during that process.
The Government will be relying on tourism body Fáilte Ireland, which will operate the register, to help identify short-term lets operating outside of the law.
Browne said he would work with Minister for Tourism Peter Burke “to ensure that people are not getting away with operating outside of the law”.
“It is completely unacceptable. The rule of law has to be enforced, and I think it doesn’t do anybody any good for people to be able to operate outside of the law,” he said.
“And that’s why we’re bringing forward this very comprehensive set of rules that are going to be, I believe, probably the strictest, or certainly one of the strictest, of any country in Europe in terms of short-term legislation, and getting homes back.”
Browne conceded that it has been “extremely difficult” to take enforcement action against those operating short-term lets without planning permission.
“I think that will be an awful lot easier once we have these new laws brought into place. But we are determined to crack down on these short-term lets,” he said.
Browne also said he expected larger short-term letting platforms such as Airbnb to comply with the new rules.
“Airbnb will have to comply with the law, and I would expect either the planning authorities and Fáilte Ireland to be very robust in actions against Airbnb or any platform that is facilitating illegal activity on their website.”