Majority of Dublin’s Airbnb-style rentals return to long-term market – The Irish Times

According to new figures from Dublin City Council, up to 70% of suspected illegal Airbnb-style vacation rentals in Dublin City have returned to the full-time rental market since the start of the pandemic.

About 900 properties in the town had been investigated by the council for alleged breaches of legislation governing the use of homes for tourism or other short-term rentals.

Since July last year, owners of properties in areas of rental pressure must obtain planning permission to use their accommodation for short-term rental purposes for more than three months a year.

However, although landlords can apply for permission, council policy is to refuse permission in order to avoid the loss of permanent rental accommodation in the town.

Travel Restrictions

Due to travel restrictions associated with the pandemic, the number of complaints to the council about short-term rentals has declined, said council planner Jonathan Fallon. This allowed the unit to focus on the 900 properties identified.

“We have written to all owners and all parties involved with these properties and asked them what their short, medium and long-term intention is regarding the use of the affected properties,” Mr. Fallon said.

“We received a huge response to these letters. A large number of them, 60-70%, said they had returned to long-term use.

The owners of the properties were required to provide the council with tenancy agreements with their new residents, to confirm that they were operating as traditional owners.

Lawsuit

“The copies of the rental contracts that we have on display [the owners] seem to have gone for a three or six month period overall to see where the market would go, but a lot of them have also moved to 12 month leases,” Mr Fallon said.

The council has taken legal action over four properties, where landlords failed to comply with enforcement notices ordering them to stop operating short-term rentals. Owners face penalties of up to €5,000 or six months in prison, or both, if found guilty.

The council’s housing manager, Brendan Kenny, said in July the council had secured a number of former Airbnb rentals for homeless families.

Mr Fallon said the unit was continuing to investigate the potentially illegal use of short-term rentals. “We continue to scour the various websites and randomly select locations where we believe rental may still be taking place in a number of downtown locations and we are also proactively pursuing those individuals.”