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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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Please support your local farmers over the large retailers
@A2 Poster: Thats a bit like saying please support your local corner shop. That did not work out well for well established reasons..
Larry Goodman and his likes have the government and big business in their pocket. It’s just going to take a lot more protests and the possibility of slurry pumped into Dáil Éireann although it’s full of slurry already.
@Bull McCabe: I’d have more support for your cause Bull if I could stroll down an auld river near yerself and catch a few trout without the likes of you telling me that this you’re land and dont let me see the likes of you here again. Just saying.
@Clint Sofie: Until something happens and the farmer ends up in court being sued.
And then you have the odd idiot leaving gates open, damaging fences, littering.
Add that to the rural crime wave of machinery and tools and you can’t fault the farmers for not being too happy with finding you on their land without their permission.
It doesn’t hurt to ask.
@Mill Lane: Dont think that asking Benjy for permission to stand at a hole of water for an hour or so is going to convert him to let the tax payer who pays his grants catch a few fish, with the greatest of respect ,MILL.
@Clint Sofie: And that’s the difference between thinking and doing….you won’t catch too many fish by thinking.
@Mill Lane: Give it up Mill, it is well known that farmers have killed over a half acre of land. THIS IS MINE AND NOBODY WILL CROSS THAT LITTLE PIECE OF GRASS, SO THERE.
@Clint Sofie: Well if you have such a low opinion of them… don’t go onto their land or buy a boat.
Simple really.
@Clint Sofie: And I’m sure you won’t mind if Bull and myself slip around into your back garden and enjoy an hour lying out in the sun. Just saying like….
@Molly1952: You would be very welcome and I would hope that you would also bring your family’s as well. My land is open to all.
@Clint Sofie: Oh and by the way, we will all end up with 6 foot of grass at the end of the day, no matter how much ya may crave for more of it wright now. The best of luck lads. We will all end up in the same place at the end of it all.
@Clint Sofie: Have to agree with you on that one…
@Molly1952: Good night Molly, or should I say good morning. Cheers.
How the government can’t make the retailers show up and yet they are the ones with the biggest mark up is beyond me
@Garreth Mc Mahon: the retailers are in the UK and other far flung places. 95% is exported. Irish retailers paying more would only be a drop in the bucket
Should banned import beef from South America & North America and need support Irish farmer
And for every €10 you spend on cow meat, you are directly supporting the slaughter of animals.
@Louise: thanks for that
@Louise: and for every €10 you spend on carrots you support the slaughter of innocent vegetables.
@Bull McCabe: and you are denying rabbits their staple diet.
@Louise: As a “normal” vegetarian I really do wish others would stop making stupid statements like this.
People have a fair idea the beef on their plate has been to the slaughter house, they don’t need to be told as they are not stupid.
Our meat free diets are probably no better for the environment, monoculture, pesticides, more diesel, more air miles ect. ect.
Choosing not to eat meat doesn’t give us the right to lecture people and those in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones.
@Louise: The animals wouldnt exist if they weren’t there for meat. Who do you think is going to feed and house a herd of cattle or pigs for pets??
@Molly1952: Thats grand Molly and you are doing the animals a favour? are ya sure that the animals are not doing YOU, a favour.
@the journal. Please fix bugs for iPhone that makes your comment post twice because you have to repost to get it on comments
How the government can’t make the retailers show up and yet they are the ones with the biggest percentage in the price is beyond me
@Garreth Mc Mahon: free trade “”
@Garreth Mc Mahon: Coz they are busy taking care of business servicing customers, its a talk shop.
That top poster is wrong. The retailer gets €3.30 out of every €10 of meat.
They are now looking for a €1Billion Brexit fund. Have they all lost the plot. For those who don’t know what €1Billion looks like, here it is. €1,000,000,000.
@John Hanrahan: too many farmers in this country. If they can’t compete, let them go bust. All the subsidies we give them outweigh the cost of ‘buying Irish’
So where have they published the figures for the claims they are making?
@Darren Byrne: The poster with the prices? I’m sure if it was wrong, the big retailers would have no problem coming out and saying so. But they are cowering away from it because they know it’s true.
Btw, beefplan has suicide prevention phone numbers and coping with depression numbers up on their website. This is a really serious issue for rural people, please don’t doubt them for no reason. It’s their industry, they know it, they know the figures. They shouldn’t have to prove that they aren’t dishonest.
@A2 Poster: I have no doubt that some of them are finding things hard. I have seen other people operate businesses and fail where others then follow and succeed. But my issue is when someone makes claims that just aren’t backed up by figures. Secondly they don’t say how much it costs them to produce that beef that they’re only getting 2 for every 10 spent.
Whats the average turnover/profit of a beef farm anyone?
@Thomas Maher: I would say it relies on economies of scale. The guy who started this only has 100 head of cattle. I’d imagine costs would be much less pro rata if you had 1000 head of cattle.
@Thomas Maher: last year I think teagasc stated it was 6000 € profit Including single farm payment. At the price it is this year I’d image the factory is after taking all the single farm payment and probably some of the off farm income as well
The Irish state and the EU appear to be determined to wipe out rural Ireland!
have your say