Almost nine times as many homes are being offered as short-term lets across Ireland compared to those available for long-term rental, according to housing charity Threshold.
Voicing concern about investment properties being tied up in the lucrative holiday rentals markets, the charity says there are almost 8,000 homes on Airbnb where the host operates more than one property.
One couple who are described as private hosts have 189 live listings, according to data obtained by Threshold from Inside Airbnb, which monitors the popular letting and homestays website.
A private individual host had 92 live listings, the analysis also showed.
Developer granted permission for €200m Waterford North Quays project
Taoiseach would put Irish boots on the ground in Ukraine peacekeeping force
Richard Boyd Barrett on his cancer treatment: ‘It is going to be very difficult to eat. That is what worries me most’
Why can’t small-scale builders build in a housing crisis when demand for homes is soaring?
Among the Irish listings was a three-bed home in Ranelagh, Dublin, in June for two weeks, at a cost of €3,885.
Another individual private host in Dublin 24 was advertising a three-bed home for a week this month for €1,330, with a seven-day minimum stay.
In total, Inside Airbnb found 20,176 properties available as short-term lets in Ireland on a single date last December.
This compares with figures from Daft.ie last month showing there were less than 2,300 homes advertised to privately rent nationwide, Threshold points out.
Threshold is asking the Government to urgently pass legislation to create a register of short-term lets to ensure the return of some of these homes to long-term use “without further delay”.
Its chief executive John-Mark McCafferty said: “Existing planning regulations are not enforced and short-term let regulations are not yet passed into law. This is resulting in thousands of homes being advertised for short-term lets in this lucrative market, while the housing and rental crisis escalates nationwide. This is within the Government’s gift to solve.”
Dublin has the highest number of hosts who have at least two full properties for short-term lets – with 856 hosts advertising 2,287 properties. Cork is the second highest county where this is the case, with 312 hosts advertising 616 properties.
In Galway, 292 hosts were advertising 1,009 properties across the city and county.
Inside Airbnb is a grassroots project that tracks holiday rentals, founded by Australian housing activist Murray Cox. Mr Cox helped draft legislation to restrict short-term rentals in New York in 2023.
Sinn Féin spokesman on housing Eoin Ó Broin called for tougher enforcement, saying “the overwhelming majority of short-term lets in rent pressure zones are breaking the law. They do not have either the change-of-use planning approval or exemption as required under the 2019 regulations.”
He said: “While the Government’s proposed short-term letting register is welcome there is also a need to have strict enforcement measures on the planning side. It is time to get tough with Airbnb and other platforms and estate agents advertising illegal short-term lets in rent pressure zones.”
A spokesperson for Airbnb said the data was not reflective of what it sees on the platform. “A typical host in Ireland shares one home for less than four nights a month and nearly nine in 10 entire home hosts share only one listing.
“The majority of listings are outside Dublin and part of the rural tourism economy, and almost half of hosts say the extra income helps them afford to stay in their home.
“While Airbnb is not the cause of long standing housing challenges, we will continue to work with the Government as it looks to bring in new regulation. We have long called for Ireland to introduce proportional short-term let rules, including a host register, that protect the families, communities, and businesses that depend on tourism.”
