Hundreds of Airbnb’s operating illegally in South Dublin, councillor says

People Before Profit councillor Darragh Adelaide said “it is a disgrace that while many people who need to live and work in Dublin are struggling to find accommodation, properties are being pulled from the rental market illegally to be offered to tourists”

Regulations on the short-term letting sector, introduced in 2019, require an application for a change of use planning permission unless the property already has a specific planning permission to be used for tourism or short-term letting purposes.

However, to date only a single property has been granted permission by South Dublin County council to be converted into a short term let, figures obtained by Adelaide showed.

While there are a number of planning exemptions, anybody wishing to avail of these planning exemptions is required to register this with the relevant local authority by completing a Form 15 Notification. To date, South Dublin has only received 2 Form 15 Notifications – one was received in 2022 and one was received in 2023.

Where a person owns a property in a rent pressure zone which is not their principal private residence and intends to let it for short-term letting purposes, that person is required to apply for a change of use planning permission unless the property already has a specific planning permission to be used for tourism or short-term letting purposes. Under these regulations, arrangements applicable in rent pressure zones are set out as follows:

• Short-term letting is defined as the letting of a house or apartment, or part of a house or apartment, for any period not exceeding 14 days.
• Homesharing (the letting of a room or rooms in a person’s principal private residence) will continue to be permissible on an unrestricted basis and be exempted from the new planning requirements.
• Homesharers will be allowed to sub-let their entire principle private residence (house or apartment) on a short term basis for a cumulative period of 90 days where they are temporarily absent from their home.
• Where the 90 day threshold is exceeded, change of use planning permission will be required

Anybody wishing to avail of these planning exemptions is required to register this with the relevant local authority by completing a Form 15 Notification.

Adelaide commented “Government housing policy is benefitting Landlords at the expense of renters. The lack of regulation of Airbnbs is clearly driving up rents across the city and making looking for accommodation even more difficult. New legislation was meant to apply in 2022 to prevent sites like Airbnb from advertising properties without the correct planning permission, but those rules have yet to be enforced”

“70% of 25-year-olds are stuck living with their parents, while many others emigrate because they can’t start a life here. I’m a 26-year-old renter and it is becoming clearer that housing policy is designed for investors and landlords, not for people trying to build a life in Ireland”