Kinsale councilor backs tighter checks on short-term rentals

A government move to tighten regulations on short-term rentals has been welcomed by a Kinsale councilor, who said locals were struggling to compete for housing with landlords renting properties short-term to locals. vacationers.

Darragh O’Brien, the housing minister, intends to push through legislation from September 1 that will ban online platforms like Airbnb from advertising short-term rental properties that don’t have the building permit required.

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

Housing charity Threshold said 2019 short-term rental legislation ‘didn’t work’ as very few hosts applied for planning permission, but short-term rentals are exceeding wide 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 rental on Daft.ie.

Mr O’Brien said the new controls would lead to more homes returning to the long-term rental market in areas of rent pressure, where rents are highest and households have the most difficulty finding affordable housing.

Kinsale-based Fine Gael County Councilor Kevin Murphy welcomed the move, saying property owners in Kinsale have increasingly turned to short-term rentals in recent years, making it extremely difficult for those wishing to rent long term.

“Right now, a significant number of people are hoping to get some kind of housing at a reasonable cost, but in fact the long-term rental stock is not very easy to find,” he said.

“Landlords using Airbnb have gotten away with it for a very long time, but there needs to be a method to ensure there’s a level playing field for everyone. People need to have the same availability threshold housing,” he said.

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

The bill is progressing in the Oireachtas and is expected to be signed into law before the summer recess.

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