The Government has been given the green light to proceed with plans to impose new rules on short-term property lettings, in a move which could free up thousands of properties for the rental sector.
The Cabinet Committee on Housing met late last week where Ministers were told that the revised Short-Term Tourist Letting Bill will be brought before Cabinet on June 11th, following months of discussion with the European Commission.
The commission previously raised concerns that the proposed legislation would be in contravention of European law. Minister for Housing Darragh O’Brien and officials from the Department of Tourism met the commission last December and again this February to discuss the plans.
A senior Government source confirmed those issues have now been “boxed off” and that the “green light” has been given to proceed with the plan, although further correspondence with the EU is anticipated after the heads of the Bill go to Cabinet.
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After the legislation is approved at Cabinet, Mr O’Brien and Minister for Tourism Catherine Martin will again write to the commission through a system known as the TRIS notification process, to inform them of the progress of the Bill. Ministers will also get a chance this week to submit any observations on the plans as part of the forthcoming Cabinet memo.
Sources said the new Bill had to align with a new EU Short Term Rental Regulation law, but that this work was “95 per cent complete”.
The plans to limit short-term letting would mean a person could not advertise a property on such platforms without a registration number. The aim of the legislation is to take as many as 12,000 properties out of the short-term letting sector and make them available to people seeking long-term rentals.
Under the plans, property owners offering accommodation for periods of up to and including 21 nights will need to be registered with Fáilte Ireland. The tourism agency will monitor online platforms to ensure compliance with the obligation for advertised properties to have a valid registration number.
Fáilte Ireland will have 10 staff monitoring websites for compliance with the registration rules. It will be able to levy a €300 fixed-penalty notice on property owners who advertise their property without a valid registration number.
Property owners and online platforms who breach the new short-term letting rules will also face fines of up to €5,000.
There has been concern in recent years at the number of properties being let out to tourists. While many of these are people making some extra income by renting out rooms in their homes, others are full properties being let out to the benefit of owners who can make even more than if the property was in the long-term rental market.
There will be a “clarification period” of up to six months. This will allow property owners who need to apply for change-of-use planning permission to continue to offer their accommodation to tourists while their application is being considered and processed. Planning guidelines will also be issued to local authorities to supplement the introduction of the legislation.
In a letter issued to Government in February, the European Commission said parts of the 2022 draft of the Short-Term Tourist Letting Bill contravened EU laws protecting the freedom to provide online services across the European Single Market. Ministers were told at the Cabinet committee last week of the work in recent months to bring the Irish law into complete alignment with European laws, and that the EU Commission had responded positively to the work done.
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