The Government recognises the housing affordability challenges which may affect individuals and households across the country, including in coastal regions where demand for second and/or holiday home is making the challenge more acute.
The Government established a new State supported Cost Rental tenure in 2021. The rent for these homes are set to cover the costs of delivering, financing, managing and maintaining the homes, using a financial model over at least 40 years. This means that the rents are not subject to market pressures. Cost rental is is intended for moderate-income households which are above the income limits for social housing, but which have difficulty affording rental accommodation in the private market. My Department provides a range of funding packages to State bodies and housing charities who may develop new Cost Rental housing across the country, including in coastal regions,
Where a Cost Rental landlord (e.g. Local Authority) develops new homes in a particular location, there is now scope for local residents and workers to be given priority for these homes. Under amendments made late last year to the Affordable Housing Act 2021, and Regulations which I signed into law in July this year, landlords may propose 'Allocation Plans' for my approval. These Allocation Plans allow preference to be shown to people who live, work and/or in education in a certain geographical area. This will help to ensure that members of local communities are selected as tenants for Cost Rental homes.
While increasing and accelerating the supply of new housing including cost rental is a clear priority for Government, other initiatives will also have an impact.
The Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment have drafted the Short Term Letting and Tourism (STLT) Bill General Scheme in full alignment with the EU Short Term Rental (STR) Regulation. The introduction of the STLT Bill will provide a more effective legal and administrative basis to regulate short term lettings. This Bill when enacted will provide the statutory basis for the introduction of a register for all Short Term Lettings in Ireland, which will be implemented and managed by Fáilte Ireland from 20 May 2026.
The Government recently agreed a policy to generally preclude new planning permissions for short term letting in cities and towns with a Census population in excess of 10,000 persons. It was further agreed that Local Authorities should have discretion to develop policies for other locations having regard to relevant local criteria to be set out in the guidance. This guidance will be introduced in the form of a National Planning Statement (NPS).
My Department is currently developing the National Planning Statement for the short term letting sector to supplement and support the introduction of the STLT Bill. It will consider a variety of factors, such as existing planning legislation, the long term housing need in the local authority area, the location of the proposed short term let and balancing housing need with the potential impact on tourism and economic development.
