Aontú Submit New Bill to Deal with Failure of Government Airbnb Legislation
Aontú Leader and Meath West TD Peadar Tóibín has submitted a new Bill to the Dáil that seeks to deal with what he terms the failure of Government Airbnb legislation. He stated;
“March and April saw an increase in the number of available rentals across the country. The number of homes available to rent across the State increased by just under 40% according. There was a particular spike in Rental Accommodation availability in Dublin during these months”.
“The rise in available properties is understood to have been as a result of the crash in Short Terms Let/Airbnb market due to the Covid-19 crisis and landlords offering them as long term lets instead. This equates to a jump of 900 homes available to rent in just a couple of months. Rents also fell in these months no doubt due to the economic damage done by Covid-19 but also likely as a result of a 40% increase in supply”.
“Last year the government was forced to introduce legislation to tackle the crazy situation where we have tourists staying in homes and homeless families staying in hotels. Due to the outcry from citizens the government committed to tackling this illogical situation. However, its clear that a large chunk of the Short Term Rental market either availed of loopholes in the Fine Gael legislation or ignored it completely”.
“Last month the number of homes for rent on Airbnb across Dublin was enough to house all the capital’s homeless people. This includes over a thousand people living in hotels and hubs in the city. Rental income from these homes can be as high as €230,000 a year. There is no doubt that this type of income is pushing house prices up in the city. Yet as of last month there was only one prosecution under the new regulations. So far this year according to Dublin City Council only 19 people applied for planning permission for short term letting and only one was granted planning permission. These figures are replicated across many cities and towns across the state. They show that the FG legislation is failing”.
“The Aontú Bill is a temporary measure lasting 3 years with a possible extension to 5 years. It aimed at increasing the number of dwellings available for long term rent. It aims to shut down loopholes and make the system much easier to enforce. The Aontú Bill will, if enacted, prohibit any short term lets of non-principle residence in a town or a city with a population of over 10,000 people. The Bill defines Short Term lets as periods of time under 28 days in duration. This in effect completely rules out the function of Airbnb for non-principle private residents in large towns and cities for Short Term Lets. It is a significant reform. It will mean that those homes that Covid has forced out of the Sort Term Letting market will remain out and many more homes will come into the long term letting market”.
“This Bill is one element of a large number of measures that Aontú seek in order to end the housing crisis and to provide homes for all families in Ireland. We urge the political parties in Leinster House to support our bill”.
