Lockboxes that have been attached to poles and cycle stands across Dublin city to distribute keys for Airbnb-style lettings are to be “removed and destroyed” under a new Dublin City Council policy.
Key storage boxes have become very popular for holiday apartment letting across Europe, the council said, “as landlords do not have to meet the guests in person”. Instead, the host provides guests with a code to open the box and retrieve the keys.
However, while the boxes are typically mounted on walls beside the entrance to an apartment or house, “it is becoming increasingly common in Dublin city centre that lockboxes or key boxes are being placed in the public domain attached to bike stands and street signage poles,” the council said. “As a result, we have received a number of representations regarding these from the public and elected members.”
The council’s principal concern is that the boxes represent a trip hazard, which “gives rise to issues regarding liability for any accidents, trips or other injuries in the public realm”. The council has the power under the Road Act to remove the boxes, but it is asking councillors this week to endorse an official policy “that lockboxes being used in the public realm will be removed and destroyed”.
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It is recommending warnings be issued for a six-week period “to prevent visitors being stranded with no accommodation on arrival”. A date will be set for a removal blitz by council workers, and the main online short-term rental providers will be contacted “requesting that their clients are notified that the lockboxes will be removed from the public realm starting from the agreed date, and to encourage more effective controls on access to properties”.
Thereafter, “any lockboxes found in the public realm will be immediately removed and destroyed”.
Independent city councillor Mannix Flynn is one of several who have long sought action on these boxes. “We know that most of these are for illegal short-term lets – that is why they are being put on bicycle stand and not beside the front door, where the property could be identified.”
He welcomed the move but said their removal should be immediate. “Putting them on a public pole is illegal. People are tripping over them, particularly people with vision impairments, and street sweepers' brushes get tangled in them. It is a misuse of public infrastructure, and we should not tolerate it one minute longer.”
He said he was not concerned that tourists would be left stranded if the boxes were removed. “This is not about interfering with tourism – if people turn up and the box is gone, they can contact the host by email or phone.”
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