Here is an explainer of what every Airbnb host needs to know about the short-term letting regulations introduced by the Irish government in July 2019 and how those might change in the near future.
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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.
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.
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.
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.ie
Houst was launched in London in 2015. Since then, our team has been helping homeowners and landlords across the capital increase their earnings while managing everything for them. We're now the world's largest Airbnb host management service.
Our highest earning host has a 3-Bed Apartment in Old Street with 94% occupancy!
To make the most of your property, we list on multiple booking platforms, maximising your income from a unique mix of short, medium and long-lettings all year round.
We have teams of professional cleaners, housekeepers and partners to turnaround laundry on-demand, and our London-based team writes your listings, takes photographs and offers expert advice on how to improve your property for business and holiday short-lets. Meanwhile, our pricing specialists are continuously working hard to optimise your occupancy and overall revenue.
To maximise your bookings and revenue potential, we'll list your property on multiple platforms. Our platform means your calendar is synched across them all, while you enjoy great returns. We also use a strategy of short, medium and longer term lettings to help ensure occupancy all year round.
Learn more: Multi-Platform ListingsWe'll increase your occupancy and the price you can charge with professional photography.
Learn more: Professional PhotographyTo help attract the right guests for your property and increase the number of bookings, we'll setup and write your listings on multiple platforms. We've got data from thousands of properties so we know what works best.
Learn more: Listing CreationA core part of the Houst difference is being able to increase how much you earn from your property. Behind every great pricing strategy is a lot of data and great human minds - we have both.
Learn more: Price OptimisationYour safety and the security of your property are our top priority. We screen all guests and, after hundreds of thousands of bookings, have also built up our own database of good and bad guests.
Learn more: Guest VettingEasy self check-in is a top priority for guests and the Airbnb algorithm loves it too! So we provide a free lock box to all new hosts who join us.
Learn more: Guest Check-inGuests always remember how good the sheets are! We provide hotel quality linen and a high-quality laundry service. Our housekeepers know all the perfect touches for an enjoyable guest stay.
Learn more: Linen & ToiletriesResponding to guests as quickly as possible is the key to getting more bookings and maintaining a good reputation. Our teams respond 24/7/365 and trained to deal with all questions and issues both before and during stays.
Learn more: Guest CommunicationWe've built our own Airbnb cleaning service to ensure every clean is done thoroughly with guests in mind and are never missed! Our cleaners even report back to HQ with photos.
Our housekeeping team take photographs between each guest stay and report on any maintenance items. If it's a small item, we'll fix it quickly. If it's something that needs repairing or replacing, such as washing machine, we can arrange this for you.
Learn more: Property MaintenanceBookings through Airbnb are covered by AirCover, while other bookings are covered by our partners, GuardDog, and other local insurances.
Learn more: Property InsuranceOur Host Dashboard syncs your calendar between multiple booking websites to give you more control and see who is staying. You can also track your performance and income.