Nine out of ten bookings on short-term lettings platforms in Ireland were for entire homes, internal Government documents reveal.<\/p>\n
In the wake of a Government rowback<\/a> on an effective ban on new short-term lettings in towns of 10,000 people or more, the figures show the overwhelming majority of bookings are for entire properties rather than renting a room in someone\u2019s home. <\/p>\n The Government changed its plan to introduce restrictions on short-term lets in towns and cities with more than 10,000 people, instead agreeing to their introduction where the population is greater than 20,000. <\/p>\n A paper drawn up by the Department of Tourism and seen by The Irish Times outlines that \u201c90 per cent of stays were in properties advertised as full units (not house shares)\u201d. <\/p>\n This is significantly higher than the split between full homes and individual beds advertised on four of the largest platforms, which, according to statistics compiled by F\u00e1ilte Ireland, is 64 per cent. <\/p>\n A spokesman for the Department of Tourism said: \u201cThis means that 64 per cent of listed\/advertised short term rental properties are entire units and 90 per cent of consumers opt to book this type of accommodation rather than a room in a home-share situation.\u201d<\/p>\n Critics of the short-term letting model say that, particularly in towns and cities, it takes properties off the market<\/a> that would otherwise be sold to owner-occupiers or let out to renters. <\/p>\n [\u00a0The new short-term letting rules: has the tourism sector won at the expense of housing?Opens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n The Government has argued that its new policy will make it harder for properties to enter the short-term letting market, as they will have to obtain planning permission to register with F\u00e1ilte Ireland that will become a precondition for using the larger booking engines. <\/p>\n Data in the paper also shows that occupancy rates in the short-term letting sector are low, with analysis of 2024 figures suggesting they range from as low as 3 per cent to a high of 36.2 per cent in properties in Dublin during August of that year. <\/p>\n It states that \u201cthere is a very high percentage of [short-term letting] bedspace capacity unused throughout Ireland, even during the peak months of June, July and August 2024.\u201d<\/p>\n The paper was based on CSO and Eurostat data on short-term letting capacity and occupancy for 2024, compared against availability figures gathered by F\u00e1ilte Ireland from the four largest booking platforms. <\/p>\n Discussions are continuing in Government about the planning regime to apply to the short-term letting sector after the introduction of a new regulatory regime from May 20th this year, introduced in connection with new EU rules. <\/p>\n