Co-living apartments, once described by former minister for housing Eoghan Murphy as like “very trendy”, “boutique hotels” can be used for Airbnb-style holiday lets, due to a planning loophole, it has emerged.
Dún Laoghaire Rathdown County Council has dropped a planning enforcement case against co-living developer Bartra following legal advice the company could use its “Niche Living” apartment scheme for holiday lets.
Studio apartments in the 208-bed block on Eblana Avenue in Dún Laoghaire are being advertised on a holiday booking site with a two-night stay next weekend costing €278.
Co-living schemes, where shared kitchen and living facilities serve multiple en-suite rooms, were introduced as a separate housing category in the planning system in 2018 by Mr Murphy.
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The concept drew immediate criticism with Opposition parties and housing campaigners describing co-living apartments as modern-day bedsits. Mr Murphy defended co-living as one solution to the housing crisis and an “exciting” choice to young workers “like a very trendy, kind of boutique hotel-type place”.
His successor as minister for housing, Darragh O’Brien, in late 2020 banned new co-living applications following concerns developers were eschewing construction of traditional apartment schemes in favour of cheaper co-living developments.
Supporting the ban Mr Murphy said co-living was only ever intended to play a limited and “niche role” in the housing market.
Bartra opened Niche Living in Dún Laoghaire, the State’s first co-living complex, in 2023 charging €1,880 a month per person. The cost has since risen to €1,990 per month, but studios are also being offered for stays of just two nights.
Following the advertisement of the studios on holiday site Booking.com the council issued a warning letter to Bartra for “alleged unauthorised development” due to “non-compliance” with planning permission as “residency occupancy lengths” were “not being adhered to”.
However, following a response from Bartra, the council early this month dropped its enforcement action.
The council said it had “considered legal advice obtained” and accepted the duration of letting was not defined in the ministerial guidelines governing shared accommodation developments. The council also noted the planning permission for the complex did not include a condition in relation to the duration of letting.
The council did “not consider that there is any further planning enforcement action ... available at this time,” it said.
“The owners have been reminded of the requirement that the unit/suites are let on a single occupancy basis only and of their obligation to ensure that any third-party platforms advertise the units/suites on that basis,” the council said. Booking.com is advertising the studios for two guests.
Bartra did not respond to requests for comment. The Department of Housing said “enforcement matters are the responsibility of Local Authorities” and “the Minister cannot exercise any power or control in relation to any particular case with which a planning authority or the Board is or may be concerned”.
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