Short-term lets register ‘took longer than it should have’, Tánaiste says

By Gráinne Ní Aodha and Cillian Sherlock, Press Association

There has been no Cabinet “infighting” over a short-term lets register, the Tánaiste has insisted.

Minister for Housing James Browne brought legislation to Cabinet on Tuesday which would introduce a register of short-term lets, such as Airbnbs, as part of new EU regulations that came into force in May.

Anyone offering paid accommodation for up to 21 nights will be required to register each unit they rent out with Fáilte Ireland, which could be an entire property or a room within a home.

Anyone applying to be on the register will have to declare the space complies with statutory obligations, including planning permission when required.

It took a little bit longer than it should have

There have been reports of disagreements at Cabinet over the legislation, including to which areas it would apply and the effect it would have on tourism-dependent communities.

Speaking to reporters on Tuesday morning, Tánaiste Simon Harris dismissed the reports.

He said: “There was no infighting but what there was was a real need to get this right – because we’re trying to do two things here and we need to make sure one thing doesn’t knock off the other.

“We’re trying to make sure that there are more properties available to long-term let, particularly in cities and towns, and that there’s a regulation and structure around short-term lets that’s coming in at an EU level that, quite frankly, hadn’t happened before.

“We’ve got to also balance that with the fact that there are many parts of this country – including rural communities, small towns, small villages – where short-term lets is a key part of the domestic tourism economy, where they may not have access to many hotels.”

Harris accepted “it took a little bit longer than it should have” but insisted ministers had got the balance “right”.

A Housing Agency Report estimated through Airbnb data that there are 28,903 short-term lets in Ireland, with the cities representing about 40 per cent of the national total.

Dublin accounts for 9,186 short-term lets, or 32% of the total.

New planning permissions for short-term lets will not be needed in cities and towns with a population above 20,000 according to the most recent Census.

This includes Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Waterford and Galway, and 20 large towns.

For residential properties that have operated as a short-term let for at least seven years and no enforcement action has been taken, planning permission for retention can be sought.