In June 2017 a Working Group was established involving representatives of all major public stakeholders with a policy interest in short-term lettings, to develop guidance in relation to planning applications, changes of use relating to short-term lettings and to examine the need for new regulatory arrangements.
Having considered the Working Group's report as well as the recommendations in the report of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government on short-term lettings, I announced plans to introduce a “one host, one home” model in areas where there is high housing demand.
Under the proposed new arrangements, homesharing would continue to be permissible for a person’s primary residence. In addition, an annual cap of 90 days would apply for the renting out on a short-term basis of a person's entire home where it is their primary residence, with such short-term lets being restricted to periods of 14 days or less at a time. Under these arrangements, people who wished to avail of the proposed new planning exemptions to use their own home for home-sharing or limited short-term letting purposes would be required to register this with their local planning authority.
These proposed changes would not affect the operation of holiday homes as typically understood, or longer-term flexible lettings which are provided for those coming to Ireland under employment contracts.
These new planning reforms to regulate the short-term letting sector came into effect on 1 July 2019. The final Working Group report on the regulation of short-term lettings was subsequently published on 26 July 2019.
The purpose of the aforementioned changes to the planning code was primarily to address the longer term rental issues arising from the use of properties for short-term letting in designated rent pressure zones, which are areas of high housing demand. The new arrangements have only been in force for a short period of time but I will be monitoring their impact once a reasonable period of operation has elapsed.
The broader regulation of tourism activity is beyond the scope of the planning code and my remit. On 31 July 2019, I wrote to my colleague, the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, outlining the recommendations made by the Short-Term Letting Working Group and highlighting the measures taken by my Department to act upon these recommendations, specifically the introduction of the short-term letting legislation. I advised the Minister that the remaining recommendations fell under the remit of his Department to action.
The Minister replied on 20 August, expressing a wish to ensure that there were no unintended consequences for the operation of the self-catering tourism sector arising from the implementation of the new regulations. In further correspondence on 19 September 2019, I again highlighted the significance of the introduction of the short-term letting legislation in the context of substantively addressing the recommendations of the Working Group and reiterated the importance of the outstanding recommendations and their relevance to the role of the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport. I assured the Minister my support, and that of my Department, in addressing the outstanding recommendations falling under his remit.
