Legislative reforms to regulate the short-term letting sector through the planning code, in areas designated as “rent pressure zones” (RPZs), were introduced under the Planning and Development Act 2000 (Exempted Development) (No. 2) Regulations 2019 which came into effect on 1 July 2019.
In essence, the legislation requires home-sharers letting rooms in their principal private residence located within a RPZ, or letting the entire property subject to a maximum of 90 days per annum within such an area, to register with their local authority. Persons letting properties in an RPZ which are not their principal private residence are required to apply for change of use planning permission unless the property already has a specific planning permission to be used for tourism or short-term letting purposes.
Notwithstanding the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, significant work on the implementation and enforcement of the Regulations has been undertaken by planning authorities since they came into effect.
Local planning authorities are responsible for the implementation and enforcement of the short-term letting planning arrangements and submit quarterly data returns to my Department. The attached spreadsheet provides the number of Investigations, registrations, applications for planning permission and enforcement action for 2019, 2020 and 2021. In the initial two year period, local authorities were not requested to identify and report on the number of enforcement cases that were satisfactorily resolved. However, this has been provided for 2021. Information is also provided in relation to the dedicated staffing resources in each local authority on a quarterly basis. Data in respect of Q1 2022 is not yet available.
My Department does not maintain data regarding the number of properties engaged in short-term letting activity outside of RPZs and/or further to a specific planning permission enabling it to engage in such activity.
The Government's new housing plan, Housing for All, contains a specific action (Action 20.4) - to “develop new regulatory controls requiring short-term and holiday lets to register with Fáilte Ireland with a view to ensuring that houses are used to best effect in areas of housing need”. Minister O’Brien has engaged with the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sports and Media to progress this action and a number of meetings have been held between officials of the two Departments, and with Fáilte Ireland, and further engagement is expected to take place in the near future.
Funding was allocated in Budget 2022 to Fáilte Ireland which has been tasked with the design and implementation of a new short term letting registration system. The agency is currently recruiting staff to work on this project. The Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media is also presently scoping out the legislative provisions that will be required to underpin the new registration system with a view to these provisions being enacted in 2022.
Short Term Letting
