Government rows back on short-term let regulations for towns with populations over 10,000

GOVERNMENT HAS ROWED back on plans that wold ensure short-term let planning permissions would be required in towns with populations over 10,000. 

Instead, the government has decided the new restrictions, which are yet to be implemented, will only apply to towns with a population of over 20,000. 

Speaking to reporters on the way into Cabinet this morning, Tourism Minister Peter Burke said agreement was reached yesterday on the matter, stating he is aware there are many areas in the country where it is not viable to construct hotels. 

Explaining the reason for the change, he said there was a need to ensure that there is capacity for additional tours coming into the country.

The Journal asked if the proposals were changed to areas with a population of 10,000 to 20,000 because of concerns raised by his Kerry colleagues, Ministers Norma Foley and Michael Healy Rae last year.

Denying that was the case, Burke said it was about striking balance between ensuring there is capacity for the tourism sector and also bringing short-term lets in the major cities back into the rental market. 

Kerry ministers were not happy

In the first half of last year, when the government initially proposed that the restrictions would apply in areas with a population over 10,000, Minister Foley is understood to have raised concerns about the regulations.

The minister said at the time that she comes from a “tourism county” and said the new rules would obviously present a particular challenge for those from her area.

A number of Kerry councillors spoke to The Journal at the time about the impacts on tourism and what the new law might mean for the areas they live. 

Burke said today that he had been working across the tourism sector for the last number of months, stating that those working in the sector need certainty.

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He said there are a number of areas right across our country that do not have hotel capacity to serve tourism needs ”and short-term lets are key to providing that capacity”.

“I want to be very honest with the sector to ensure that we have that capacity there. That’s important to keep rural tourism alive. So as tourism minister, I was very much trying to strike a balance here.

“I think this is a balance, because over half the short-term lets are in our five cities. That’s where the housing output will come from as we transfer across,” said Burke. 

May deadline

The minister told The Journal that May 2026 is still the deadline the government is working towards, stating that he will be making it clear to the sector what the parameters are.

It is understood the Department of Housing will issue a planning statement also give operators some time to regularise their planning, putting a question mark over when the new rules will actually be put into action.

He said people will have to go through the planning process, which he said does take time, stating that a “significant period of time” will be given as part of the process. 

Labour housing spokesperson Conor Sheehan said the decision shows leniency from the Government in relation to short-term lets and that it is a “rowing back” of what was already “measly” protections.

He said there are areas in the country where short-term lets are putting pressure on the housing sector and that the Government needs to “clamp down hard” on them.

Social Democrats Senator Patricia Stephenson said this decision from the Government will be a “disaster” for renters.

Stephenson said it comes as a result from “backroom political lobbying”, adding that it has “effectively gutted” the legislation before it even came into effect.

“The likes of the Healy-Raes might be very happy tonight about this, but this is going to be an absolute disaster for anyone hoping to find somewhere to rent, or indeed find somewhere to buy,” she said.

Short-term let bill 

The short-term let Bill aims to establish a register which aims to enforce a requirement, introduced in 2019, for property owners to obtain change of use planning permission to let out entire houses and apartments on platforms such as Airbnb when they are located in rent pressure zones.

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This is also required if the owner is a resident but wants to let their entire property on a short-term basis for more than 90 days per year.

Anyone letting a property, or bedrooms in a home, for periods of 21 nights or less will have to register with Fáilte Ireland under the planned new legislation.

Once the register is in place, officials will be able to identify where the short-term letting properties are as online platforms will have to provide monthly reports for any area with a registration procedure.

The reports will include the contact details of the short term rental host and the address of the property in addition to activity data about the number of nights the property was rented. 

The Taoiseach said that getting properties in towns and cities back into the rental market is the priority. 

Providing further clarity on the next steps, the Taoiseach told the Dáil today that there could be a grace period allowed for homeowners to regulate their planning permission status after the May date for which the register is expected to be up and running. 

However, the Taoiseach reminded people that as the law currently stands, anyone who operates an Airbnb or short-term let currently in areas that are Rent Pressure Zones, they are meant to have planning permission. 

“We’re trying to get the balance right between tourism and housing,” he said. 

Under the new rules, the Taoiseach said all property owners who wish to operate a short-term let will be obliged to sign up to the national register. 

Despite the Taoiseach stating that it is already the law that  those property owners should have planning permission, if operating their business in certain areas, the government is examining the grace period will be established to allow those who do not have planning permission to do so. A decision on how long that time period will be will be announced “fairly imminently”.

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