Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 24 February 2026
656. Deputy Conor Sheehan asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the reason the exemption for protected structures is listed as a potential exception in urban areas of high population under the short-term letting regulations and does not apply to rural areas where many historic structures are not suitable for long-term lets; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14363/26]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe EU Short Term Rental (STR) Regulation was adopted by the EU on 11 April 2024 and is applicable from 20 May 2026. This Regulation lays down harmonised rules on the collection and exchange of data on short-term rental services for member states, hosts providing short-term accommodation rental services, and online platforms that offer services to hosts providing short-term accommodation rental services within the EU.
The Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment (DETE) has drafted the Short Term Letting and Tourism (STLT) Bill General Scheme in full alignment with the 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.
In 2019, my Department brought in Regulations, (SI 235/2019), to provide for new arrangements for Short Term Lets within Rent Pressure Zones (RPZ). The regulations provided for the following:
• 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.
• Where a person owns a property in a RPZ which is not their principal private residence and intends to let it for short term letting purposes, s/he will be 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.
With the nationwide extension of RPZs in June 2025, the legislative requirement to gain planning permission for short-term letting use, as outlined above, was extended nationwide.
Approval was received from Government on the 15 April 2025 for a threshold based approach to generally preclude new planning permissions for Short-Term Lets in larger towns and cities. Further to this, on 9 February last, the Cabinet Committee on Housing proposed to generally preclude new planning permissions for Short-Term Lets in the 25 largest towns and cities with a population in excess of 20,000, at the most recent Census of Population, subject to Cabinet approval.
Accommodation providers based in towns with a population of more than 20,000 at the last census, will need to confirm planning compliance on registration if they wish to register their short-term letting property with Fáilte Ireland. Accommodation providers based in towns with a population of 20,000 or less, based on the census town boundaries, will have an extended period to meet planning compliance requirements.
To ensure that there is a clear view, both at national level and local authority level, as to the overall policy approach to determining planning applications for Short-Term Lets, my Department is currently developing a National Planning Statement (NPS) for the Short-Term Letting sector to supplement and support the introduction of the STLT Bill.
It should be noted that in advance of the publication of the NPS, local authorities can continue to make decisions on applications for change of use in respect of short-term letting properties. The decision of the local authority will be informed by local policy contained in the city and county development plans and local area plans, where applicable.
In January this year my Department issued a Circular (www.gov.ie/en/department-of-housing-local-government-and-heritage/circulars/spi-012026-short-term-letting-and-the-planning-system/) to clarify the current legislative and policy framework for the regulation of short-term letting of houses and apartments and other residential accommodation in the planning system. The circular was issued to all planning authorities and service providers, as well as other relevant stakeholders.
