Owners of properties in the short-term letting market who do not have planning permission could be given extra time to become compliant under a new regulatory regime being introduced by Government.
Under new rules agreed by Coalition leaders on Tuesday night , there will be an effective ban on granting planning permission for short-term lets in population centres of more than 20,000 people.
Under the new regime, short-term letters will have to register on an online platform run by Fáilte Ireland, and will need planning permission to operate as a short term let in order to do so.
However, Government sources said that consideration was being given to allowing people without planning permission continue operating for a period of time, with two years currently under discussion. This would only apply in population centres under 20,000. Planning applications for short-term lets made in larger urban areas would operate on a basis where there would be a presumed refusal in place, with only limited grounds for approval.
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There is a wider issue of those who have been operating without planning permission for more than seven years. Under the so-called “seven-year rule”, a development unauthorised by planning authorities are generally immune from prosecution.
The Government has come under pressure to allow people in this situation to continue operating, including from Kerry TD Danny Healy-Rae in the Dáil on Tuesday.
Healy-Rae told Taoiseach Micheál Martin that “the people who have been at it for years, and especially over seven years, they shouldn’t have to go for planning”.
A government source said they believed the situation around such people would be clarified by the Department of Housing soon, with a suggestion that such properties could be “grandfathered” into the new regime. But immunity from pursuit by planning authorities may not be sufficient to allow a short term letter continue to operate, as they will ultimately have to prove compliance.
The 20,000 population figure agreed by Government is a rowback on a previous position where the Government intended to introduce the restrictions in towns of 10,000 and above.
Norma Foley and Michael Healy-Rae, respectively a Minister and Minister of State from Co Kerry, had previously opposed plans to cap short-term lets for large Irish towns, which would have affected those running Airbnb-style rentals in popular tourist towns such as Killarney.
Minister for Enterprise Peter Burke denied the change in policy confirmed on Tuesday was a response to pressure from Foley and Healy-Rae, and said instead he had been in discussions with the tourism sector over a number of months.
In a post on his Instagram account on Tuesday, Healy-Rae took credit for the policy change. He said he had been “working hard at Government level” on the new rules, and the announcement from Government “reflects that work”.
