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A GOVERNMENT WORKING group is to review if new regulations should be introduced for lettings website, AirBnb.
As part of the government’s rental strategy, a working group will prepare a report which will look at issues such as tenancy regulation, tax liability and the tourism dimension associated with the company.
Last year, the use of short-term lettings and AirBnb hit the headlines when An Bord Pleanála upheld a Dublin City Council (DCC) ruling that an apartment owner in Temple Bar needed to apply for planning permission if they wanted to continue to rent the property out via Airbnb.
The apartment on Crown Alley in the middle of Dublin’s busiest tourist area reportedly made €79,000 in one year.
Following the ruling, Housing Minister Simon Coveney vowed to tackle the issue of landlords renting out their properties through AirBnb.
The minister said his department would issue guidelines to local authorities, especially those in urban areas.
Letter to councils about AirBnb
The letter sent last December reminded local authorities that a property owner will now need to apply for planning permission to the local council for a material change of use of the apartment concerned if they are using it for short-term lets.
Planning Authorities are reminded of their obligations relating to planning enforcement under Part VIII of the Planning Act… It should be particularly noted that any planning enforcement action in this area should be focused on properties coming within scenario [of] … being exclusively used for commercial short-term letting purposes on a year-round basis.
Local authorities were told to investigate the matter by checking commercial website platforms where short-term lettings are advertised.
If there are suspicions a homeowner is using their property in such a way the owner should be written to and asked whether or not the property is being continually made available for short-term letting purposes. If the correct planning permission is not in place the department advises the council to take enforcement procedures.
Dublin City Council confirmed to TheJournal.ie that it received no submissions last year for a change of use for any residential property to be used for commercial use or short-term lets.
With up to 3,300 Dublin apartments listed on AirBnb last summer, TheJournal.ie asked Dublin City Council what regulations are in place on AirBnb properties.
Planning permission
The council stated there are no specific regulations relating to AirBnB, but outlined that if a person wants to use their property exclusively for short-term holiday lettings and there is no principal resident living in the property at all times, a change of use is required under planning permission.
However, when asked how many change of use requests were submitted to Dublin City Council last year for this reason, the local authority replied:
None to date to our knowledge.
When asked how many properties were under investigation for possible breach of planning rules and how many enforcement actions had been taken by the council, other than the Temple Bar case, the council said:
This information is not readily accessible.
Dublin City Council said it doesn’t distinguish between complaints alleging unauthorised short-term lettings on AirBnb and other property listings.
Secretary General of the Housing Department, John McCarthy told the Oireachtas Committee on Housing this week that in the event that there are other properties operating in a similar manner to the Temple Bar property, they need to be followed up on.
Review
“While a significant number of AirBnb properties may be advertised in any location at a particular time, what is not as clear is the extent to which some of those are being offered by people who are making their property available for a week or two when they are on holidays themselves.
“There is a big gulf between the numbers of units available in AirBnb and the numbers of units available for housing generally, because they are and continue to be people’s primary residences,” said McCarthy.
He acknowledged there are a range of issues flowing from the An Bord Pleanála case and Airbnb.
There is a commitment in the rental strategy to establish a working group to prepare a report on that by the second quarter of this year.
We will be moving forward with that very shortly.
Last year Airbnb opened a new 40,000-square-foot international headquarters in the Dublin, with the company stating that it contributed an estimated €74 million to regional and rural communities across Ireland in the last year.
According to its Home-Sharing: Empowering Regional & Rural Ireland report, in 2016 alone, 11,000 unique hosts welcomed over 650,000 guests to their homes across Ireland (including Dublin).
In the last year, 6,000 hosts in regional and rural Ireland have earned an average additional income of €2,700 per household.
Other major cities
With the government reviewing possible regulations, what route could it go down?
A number of major cities have clamped down on the use of AirBnb.
Hosts in Berlin are only permitted to rent out their property for 50% of the year, while Amsterdam imposed a limit of 60 nights a year.
The Minister for Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs, Heather Humphreys said the benefit of the Airbnb model is that it can bring new visitors to remote locations, and provide revenue to communities in rural Ireland.
Sinn Féin’s Eoin O’Broin said he hoped the fact the company employs over 500 employees in Ireland would not be a factor when government are considering what regulations to impose.
“My worry is that if the working group only reports back in the second quarter, we are really only looking at regulations for September, October or November. Is there any way the working group can be brought forward or the gap between the report and regulations could be sped up? It is an urgent issue in terms of supply,” O’Broin told the committee.
6,225 units listed on Airbnb
Raising the issue in the Dáil this week, he told Taoiseach Enda Kenny that while there are only 1,564 properties available for rent in Dublin, there are 6,225 units listed on Airbnb.
He asked when the minister would be introducing legislation to properly regulate this sector. Kenny said he would ask the minister to give Ó Broin more accurate details and a date on which he expects the legislation to be published.
The Sinn Féin TD suggested that a 6-8 week limit be introduced on owners who wish to let their properties on AirBnb.
If local authorities are being instructed to carry out more inspections and begin more enforcement orders against property owners he said additional resources and staff will need to be provided.
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Its curently working and extremely successful world-wide but the Irish Government cant wait to regulate it! Meanwhile the regulation of our financial instituions is wherr??
No its not all major cities around the world are regulating it. That’s a lie
You do know.the difference between regulation and taxation right?? Governments world-wide are not regulating this they are trying to tax it!
The Irish Revenue already tax this at upto 55%. It’s a big income earner for the revenue.
The current state of play with air bnb is that it goes against air bnb founding principles. It’s turned into another business and enabling flaunting of tax lies enabling neighbours quality if lives to be diminished and just another tool for someone to tear out massive profits from a portfolio of properties. Its no longer about a homeowner and their home. So yes it should be regulated like any other business in that sector why should it get a free ride…
Every business eventually goes against its founding principles and adapts to the reality of a market and whats needed. Everybody on airbnb is declaring this revenue as this information is passed directly to the revenue.
@Captain kirk: There’s a difference between having information passed to revenue and actually declaring. A big difference.
@Mr Snuffleupagus:
In fairness if you know the information is been passed onto the revenue and you then don’t declare it, you would deserve more than just a fat tax bill
Anything to be said for another auld plan..from the party who have taken working groups,reviews,committee’s,and can kicking to Olympic gold medal standard…
Covney is turning out to be a man possessed with anybody that owned a property. He is doing every thing in his power to control private held property .He needs to step back here and realise he has targaret the wrong sector. He needs to reduce taxes,vat,professional fees on building new property’s . We are currently 30 ℅ more expensive to build than UK. Why does he not focus on this, perhaps as usual target the easy prey.
Spot on
Ridiculous.
It needs to be regulated inside the m50 at least. It is taking renting properties off the market. Do like in Berlin where u can put your place on Airbnb for maximum 2 months a year.
Tourists bring so much revenue into the country. They’re brilliant for the economy. Tourists want to stay within the M50 when they’re visiting Dublin.
I think the government should back off and not regulate this.
“working group” set up by the government to look into this.does that mean another quongo,jobs for the lads
‘We’re from the government, we’re here to help’.
The impact on tourism would be catastrophic if a restriction was imposed due to the serious lack of hotels in the city. This sector is worth billions to the economy every year. Why not just impose the 9% vat on sales like the hotels? This can be set aside to aide the homeless issue
If people want to invest their hard earned cash into property and rent it out on Airbnb that’s their business. Government need to head off, the housing crisis had absolutely nothing to do with Airbnb. Why rent something out for €15-€20K a year when you can make multiples of that?
100 properties in one go http://www.irishtimes.com/business/commercial-property/oaktree-fund-plans-aparthotel-for-former-zanzibar-hotel-in-dublin-1.2929412 But to this one nobody says anything. Why? Because it is big business and part of the anti-airbnb hotel lobby.
People are obsessed with small property owners making an extra buck. The amount of properties on airbnb compared to the total market size is minimal. Profits some are estimating for the short term rental of an apartment are completely overestimated What are people thinking? That an apartment owner suddenly hit Gold?
More political committees, another excuse for more money for the politicians to do something they’re unqualified to do properly in the first place.
Covney is turning out to be a man possessed with anybody that ownes a property. He is doing every thing in his power to control private held property .He needs to step back here and realise he has targaret the wrong sector. He needs to reduce taxes,vat,professional fees on building new property’s . We are currently 30 ℅ more expensive to build than UK. Why does he not focus on this, perhaps as usual target the easy prey.
We are not 30% more expensive to build in the UK, where do you get this nonsense ? A labourer on a site in UK with an agency is around GBP £22 an hour. How do I know ? ….cos I’m building IN the UK……mind you, the have no VAT. ..
It’s not the labour, it’s the VAT and levies.
Should they not start with the people that let houses on a lease and do not register as a landlord , and does not pay any tax on the rent.
Their adminstrative and post-sales service is utterly farcical!!
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