The Irish Times view on new short-term letting rules: an ineffective compromise

It is more than five years since the previous government announced plans to clamp down on illegal short-term letting to help alleviate the housing crisis. Housing for All, the former coalition’s policy document, predicted that up to 12,000 short-term lets could be returned to the long-term market through the proper enforcement of planning laws and in particular the need to obtain change of use permission for dedicated short-term tourism lettings.

The measure met considerable opposition from landlords and the tourism sector. Now, after years of delay and debate, the current Minister for Housing, James Browne, finds himself racing to get a watered-down version of what was originally envisaged through the Oireachtas this month to meet an EU deadline.

The legislation currently being proposed is very much the ersatz version of what was originally envisioned. Independent housing body Threshold estimates that it may only result in 3,500 short-term lets being returned to the long-term market.

The decision to exclude towns with less than 20,000 residents dramatically weakened the initiative . Dubbed the “Kilgarvan carveout” by Green Party leader Roderic O’Gorman, in reference to the trenchant opposition of former minister of state and Independent Kerry TD Michael Healy-Rae, the measure exempts many of the busiest tourist towns including Kinsale, Dingle, Killarney and Westport.

The need for a compromise between tourism and providing long-term housing in towns is evident . But the exemption also captures a number of important dormitory towns outside large cities such as Dublin and Cork.

The effectiveness of the bill is further undermined by the decision to rely on self-certification by landlords that they are complying with planning regulations. They have to make a legal declaration to Fáilte Ireland rather than produce documentary evidence of compliance. The extent to which the declarations will be independently verified and the information shared is unclear.

What began as a housing initiative five years ago has been whittled down to little more than a register of short-term lets that the Government is obliged to create in any case under the new EU regulation, which came into effect in May. The initiative was in response to public disquiet across the EU over the impact of short-term rental platforms such as Airbnb and Booking.com on the long-term market, particularly in large cities

The register must be operational by the end of the month and its purpose, according to the European Commission, is to give governments the information they need to balance the conflicting pressures on short-term accommodation. But that presumes governments want to grasp the nettle in the first place.