Changes to legislation is regard to short term lettings has been enacted within the Residential Tenancies Amendment (No. 2) Bill 2018 and will come in to effect in June 2019. The amendment, which will be made to the Planning and Development Act 2000, will have an impact on short term lettings such as Airbnb in Ireland.
However, the newly enacted changes will not have an impact on lettings (including short term lettings) outside a rent pressure zone or lettings (other than short term lettings) within a rent pressure zone. The new legislation will only apply to short term lettings within rent pressure zones
There are currently 5 Local Authority areas and 17 Local Electoral Areas designated as Rent Pressure Zones;
Local Authority Areas
- Dublin City Council
- South Dublin County Council
- Dun Laoghaire/Rathdown County Council
- Fingal County Council
- Cork City Council
Local Electoral Areas
- Ballincollig – Carrigaline, Cork
- Cobh, Cork
- Galway City Council
- Galway East
- Galway West
- Naas, Co. Kildare
- Newbridge, Co. Kildare
- Maynooth, Co. Kildare
- Limerick City East
- Drogheda, Co. Louth
- Ashbourne, Co. Meath
- Laytown-Bettystown, Co. Meath
- Navan LEA, Co. Meath
- Ratoath, Co. Meath
- Bray, Co. Wicklow
- Wicklow
- Greystones, Co. Wicklow
The most significant change within the addition of the new ‘Short Term Lettings’ section of the 2000 Act is that “the use of a house or part of a house situated in a rent pressure zone for short term letting purposes is a material change in use of the house or part thereof, as the case may be” (Section 3A(1). This means that a new planning permission would need to be obtained to let a house or part of a house on a short term letting agreement, an agreement of 14 days or less as defined within the new legislation.
The amendment also includes provision for the Minister to make regulations whereby a person will need to “provide a planning authority with such information as may be so specified and at such intervals as may be so specified in relation to short term lettings in the administrative area of the planning authority”. This will enable a local authority to check the letting history of a premises to ensure it is in accordance with new legislation.
The final amendment within the new Short Term Lettings section is in relation to non-compliance whereby “a person who contravenes a provision of regulations under this section that is described in the regulations as a penal provision shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable, on summary conviction, to a class A fine”.
Full details of the Residential Tenancies Amendment (No. 2) Bill can be found at https://data.oireachtas.ie/ie/oireachtas/bill/2018/140/eng/ver_b/b140b18d.pdf.
