A register of landlords wishing to let their properties on a short-term basis and be overseen by Fáilte Ireland is expected to be in place before the end of this year.
Housing Minister Spokesman Darragh O’Brien said work was already underway to introduce the new regulatory system for short-term rentals (STRs) and holiday rentals.
“It will be based on international best practice and with a view to ensuring the availability of long-term residential accommodation, in balance with the needs of the tourism sector,” she said.
“Funding has been allocated in the 2022 budget to Fáilte Ireland, which has been tasked with designing and implementing a new short-term rental registration system. The agency is currently recruiting staff to work on the project.
“The Ministry of Tourism is also defining the legislative provisions that will be necessary to support the new registration system with a view to enacting these provisions in 2022.”
The Government has committed to implementing the new registration system as part of its “housing plan for all”, published last September.
It has defined its strategy to increase the supply of housing to an average of 33,000 houses per year over the next decade.
Regarding 2019 legislation to regulate short-term rentals in areas of rent pressure, Minister O’Brien’s spokesman said “significant work” on the implementation and regulatory enforcement has been undertaken by the planning authorities.
The comments came after a Irish Independent interview with Airbnb’s Managing Director for Northern Europe, Amanda Cupples, who says she knows her company and Ireland “have a problem”.
She was calling for more government reforms to let laws allow her to ban unregistered landlords from her platform and only let pre-approved hosts rent their accommodation.
The company has faced widespread criticism for taking homes off the rental market, especially those in areas of rent pressure.
Although Ireland passed new rental regulations to clamp down on the practice of cashing in short-term listings in 2019, many say they don’t go far enough.
The Irish Self-Catering Federation (ISCF), which represents owners of more than 4,500 properties located mainly in rural areas, said it was “delighted” that Fáilte Ireland is overseeing the STR register.
President Máire ni Mhurchú said she has been calling for a register to be in place since 2017.
Working alongside the European Holiday Homes Association (EHHA), it recently asked the European Commission to publish its STR legislation, which was due out before the end of this month.
The ISCF has already sent each member’s ownership details to Fáilte Ireland as they are all registered with the organization.
“The registry in Portugal was 98% accepted and their tourism sector is booming,” she said.
Travel writer Michelle Walsh Jackson said she would like to see a return to a more “organic hospitality” model. “I’m not a fan of Airbnb because I think companies like them ruin the unique B&B model we had,” she said.
“However, I don’t blame landlords for turning rental properties into Airbnbs because there is a better return.” She believes much of the blame for the current crisis lies with vulture fund-for-rent building schemes and said they are “more dangerous and take potential buyers out of the market to buy homes”.
Comments are closed.