Eoghan Murphy promises to tackle rise of short-term tourism lettings

At least 1,000 homes currently being used for short-term lets in the Greater Dublin area could be back on the long-term rental market very soon, Minister for Housing Eoghan Murphy has said.

The Minister told the Dáil he expects to next week publish proposals on a “comprehensive regulatory approach for short-term, tourism-related” lettings.

He said this would be a two-stage process that would involve in the “near immediate term” making a change “that will have a substantial outcome in terms of getting short-terms back into long-term market”.

Mr Murphy said he preferred the recommendations of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing over those of the forum he established last year in the wake of rising concern about short-term lettings by agencies such as Airbnb.

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He expressed an interest in a policy being pursued in Toronto, Canada where the local authority has announced rules on short-term lets restricting homeowners to letting rooms in their main homes, banning “secondary suites” for rental such as basement apartments and setting a 180-day maximum for rentals. These rules are yet to be implemented because of appeals.

Mr Murphy acknowledged data from the Residential Tenancies Board on the difference in rent increases between sitting and new tenants and said that people were “paying far too much in rent”, if they could find a place to rent at all.

‘Important impact’

He said his department was gathering information on the number of homes available, and they could get “1,000 homes and potentially more than that in the greater Dublin area back into the rental market very soon, which could have an important impact” on people’s experience in the rental market.

Airbnb is the largest short-term letting operator, but other companies are also involved in the system through which people rent out rooms or entire properties for short-term lets to tourists.

The Minister said he was “a fan of home-sharing but it can’t happen in an unfettered way”. He said “we can’t wait any longer” for regulation.

Mr Murphy said he would give people notice ahead of the changes to give them time to comply.

Fianna Fáil housing spokesman Darragh O’Brien said he hoped the plan was “close to the joint Oireachtas committee’s recommendations”. He said they needed it to make an impact very quickly because it would be an important factor in resolving supply issues around residential tenancies.

The Minister last year established a forum in the wake of serious concern about the number of properties that were taken out of the long-term rental market through Airbnb and other short-term rental firms.

The committee made 13 recommendations including for better regulation of short -term lets.