Are you an Airbnb host in Dublin? It's important to be aware of the regulations surrounding short-term rentals, especially in rent pressure zones. Currently, hosts can rent out their primary residence for fewer than 90 days a year without planning permission, as long as stays are 14 days or less.
However, new laws may be coming into effect soon, which will require hosts to obtain planning permission and register with Dublin City Council. In this article, we'll discuss the current regulations and what you can do to adhere to them while maximising your earnings with the help of Houst.
In brief
- You can currently host short-term lets (14 days or fewer) on Airbnb for under 90 days a year in total in rent pressure zones
- You have to get planning permission to host short-term lets for longer than 90 days a year
- Lets longer than 14 days don’t need planning permission
- But the government is now considering making anyone wanting to host on Airbnb in rent pressure zones get planning permission
In depth
1. What sort of restrictions are in place?
The current restrictions on short-term rentals are there to ensure that primary residences in rent pressure zones (areas of high demand for residential housing) are only available on the short-term rental market for fewer than 90 days a year. This, however, only applies to stays of fewer than 14 days at a time. You can resolve this by getting planning permission from Dublin City Council.
To do so, at the start of the rental year, you must send a Form 15 Statutory Notification to the council no later than two weeks before the beginning of the first short-term let of the year for that property.
After that, you have to submit two more forms: one to notify the council when the 90-day threshold has been reached and another one to summarise the total amount of lettings at the end of the year.
When hosting guests for periods longer than 14 days, hosts are free to accept as many bookings as they wish - since those count as medium-term lets and so do not need to be reported to the council.
2. How the rules might change.
According to a recent report, the government is considering whether to further restrict short-term lets of primary residences.
As enforcing the 2019 regulations is proving challenging , a new law has been proposed to resolve this issue.
This law, if enacted, will ensure that from 1 September, home-sharing sites like Airbnb, Booking.com and Expedia will not be able to list any properties in rent pressure zones that do not have the right planning permission.
The new controls would be in place for six months initially, while the Department of Tourism and Fáilte Ireland (the Irish tourism association), develop an online registration system for regulating short-term lettings. This system may be up and running by the end of the year.
Hosting responsibly with the new regulations in mind.
The current short-term rental regulations are designed to make sure Airbnb hosts and other property managers are renting their property responsibly. This doesn’t mean that it is impossible to run an Airbnb; in fact, it makes it clear what needs to be done to have a smooth short-term rental experience.
Currently, a primary residence can host entire home short-term rentals (with the host not residing at the property) for under 90 days a year without planning permission. However, if individual property owners want to continue offering their homes for short-term lettings, they must get planning permission.
If the new law comes into effect, all hosts intending to short-term let their properties will need to be registered with Dublin City Council, regardless of the amount of time they want to set aside for hosting. With planning permission usually taking about eight weeks from applying, we would advise current Airbnb hosts to start looking into the process now, before the new regulations may come into effect.
Preparing and listing your home on home-sharing sites like Airbnb, Booking.com and Expedia is not easy and can take a lot of time. Luckily, Houst can take care of it all for you: communicating with guests, cleaning, laundry, restocking, maintenance and pricing.
How can I adhere to regulations while making the most of my property?
At Houst, we use a unique strategy to help our hosts continue earning all year round. We use a mix of a short, medium and long-term lettings to stay within regulations while helping you earn more. Our platform features a calendar feature that syncs across multiple platforms to attract different types of guests through the year. It's generally Airbnb during the summer months followed by medium and corporate lets for the rest of the year. With this strategy, we help you earn up to 30% more than long lets alone.
If you'd like to get a quick and free estimate of how much your property could be earning you, visit houst.
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