Rental Sector

Thursday, 20 March 2025

Questions (1)

Eoin Ó Broin

Question:

1. Deputy Eoin Ó Broin asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he will introduce an amendment to the Planning and Development Act 2024 empowering planning authorities to apply administrative fines to short-term letting platforms such as a company (details supplied) and others where they advertise short-term lets in rent pressure zones that are not in compliance with planning law, as proposed in the Short-term Lettings Enforcement Bill 2022, Second Stage of which was passed by Dáil Éireann in May 2022. [13255/25]

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Oral answers (6 contributions)

Deputy Eoin Ó Broin

As the Minister knows, the overwhelming majority of short-term lettings within the State are operating illegally and in clear breach of planning law. In 2022, the House dealt with legislation to strengthen the enforcement of the short-term letting regulations, specifically within rent pressure zones. Is this a proposition the Minister and his departmental officials are currently considering in parallel to the ongoing work for the register for short-term letting, which one of his Cabinet colleagues is working on?

Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage (Deputy James Browne)

I thank the Deputy for his question. We recognise the need to address the short-term letting sector in areas of housing need, especially in areas of high demand such as Dublin city, and where properties are not compliant with planning requirements. The Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment is committed to introducing a short-term letting and tourism Bill that will provide the statutory basis for the introduction of regulatory controls for short-term lets, including the establishment of a register to be managed by Fáilte Ireland, and for the implementation of the harmonised EU short-term rental regulation, which was adopted on 14 April 2024 and will be applicable from 20 May 2026. The short-term letting and tourism Bill will include shared data requirements such as specific addresses and activity profiles for each short-term let unit. This will enable authorities to implement and enforce a balance between the short- and long-term accommodation sectors. Member states will be required to introduce penalties for online short-term rental platforms that do not comply with their obligations under the short-term rental regulation. This matter will be addressed under the short-term letting and tourism Bill.

It is important that there is a clear and consistent policy approach at national and local authority levels to determining planning applications for short-term lets. Any amendment to planning legislation will be informed by policy and consider multiple factors, including long-term housing need in the local authority area, the location of the proposed short-term let and the need to balance housing need with the potential impact on tourism and economic development.

Deputy Eoin Ó Broin

It has been a decade since the issue of unregulated short-term lets in high rental demand areas was raised on the floor of the Dáil. Significant work was done on a cross-party basis in the Oireachtas housing committee in 2018. An all-party report was agreed and we worked with the Minister's predecessor, the former Deputy Eoghan Murphy, on the 2019 regulations. The problem with the regulations is they are now virtually unenforceable.

As I am sure the Minister knows, our party is willing to work with him on the short-term letting and tourism Bill and we agree there needs to be an appropriate response that addresses unregulated short-term lets in rent pressure zones in a way that does not negatively impact tourism product in more rural constituencies. There is still a need, however, to introduce penalties on platforms such as Airbnb and estate agents that are currently facilitating and profiting from widespread breaches of planning law. I am interested to hear more on what the Minister means by penalties on platforms in his response. He might provide a little more detail in that respect.

Deputy James Browne

I thank Deputy Ó Broin again for raising this important question. We know that short-term lets are a problem, not just in Ireland but right across the world, particularly where properties are taken over and used. It is an increasing problem in Ireland, putting significant pressure on areas of high demand, such as Dublin city.

I am working with the Minister, Deputy Peter Burke. Ireland has introduced regulations, but enforcement has proven to be very difficult. To set out some of the challenges, planning breaches where someone has put up a physical building are easy to identify and prosecute. When it relates more to a service, though, it can be quite difficult to detect it and gather the necessary evidence to bring a prosecution.

I am determined to tackle this issue. It is putting huge pressure on our rental sector and homelessness. I agree that it is unacceptable for companies to profit from breaches of the Planning and Development Act or any law.

Deputy Eoin Ó Broin

Unfortunately, many of us warned of the challenges of enforcement when the former Minister, Eoghan Murphy, was introducing the 2019 regulations. There is a solution to this as regards the platforms, that being, to amend the Planning and Development Act to allow planning authorities to apply administrative spot fines to platforms like Airbnb for every day they advertise properties that are not in compliance with planning law. I strongly urge the Minister's Department - in parallel with the Minister, Deputy Burke's work on the short-term letting and tourism Bill - to look at parallel changes to the Planning and Development Act to do exactly that. This would remove the onerous requirement for local authority planning sections to have to go to the courts to prove something very difficult.

It is a simple requirement. A short-term letting platform like Airbnb or an estate agent should be required under the planning Acts to secure clarity on planning compliance from the host. If that is not available to the planning authority on request, every single day that property is advertised, an administrative fine that does not require court sanction is applied. That would clean up the Act. 2026 is too far away and if the planning changes were done earlier, they could have huge effect, particularly in areas with a significant rental and homelessness crisis, such as Dublin city, Cork and others.

Deputy James Browne

It is unacceptable that there are commercial entities profiteering from situations where people are in breach of the law. We want an approach where we can enforce the law in such a way as to ensure these properties are brought back into use and are available for long-term renting in high pressure zone areas, while ensuring the impact on more rural areas that rely on short-term lets for economic and tourism purposes is minimised. I intend to bring a fresh pair of eyes to that enforcement. The Deputy's suggestions will be part of those considerations.