The group representing self-catering owners has urged the Government to clarify plans for the Short Term Lettings register.
In line with EU regulation, the new measure will mandate owners renting out their property for up to 21 nights to register and put the registration number on all listings.
The Irish Self-Catering Federation, which represents owners of 5,000 holiday homes in Ireland, said they are “very much in favour” of the new register but the sector’s main concern is over the planning demand associated with the new legislation.
“Many of us have been in business for 15, 20, 30 years, and this requirement for planning only came in 2019 and is now retrospectively requiring all of us to get planning before we register,” the CEO of the ISCF, Máire Ní Mhurchú, told RTÉ’s Morning Ireland.
The register is due to be operational on May 20, but there are concerns that the system might not be ready in time for this summer as the bill behind it still hasn’t passed all the stages in the Oireachtas.
The Short Term Letting and Tourism Bill was brought forward by Minister for Enterprise Peter Burke last year.
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The measure is intended to tackle the housing crisis by shifting some short term lets into long term use and tightening regulation, amid reports that short term rentals outnumber long term homes four to one.
The new measure will require businesses operating in the sector to meet planning demands, with possible financial penalties of up to a maximum of 2% of turnover to enforce compliance.
Among the exceptions are towns with the population of 20,000 or fewer, and short-term rentals that have been operating for at least seven years.
The Government is “going in the right direction but it is not enough, particularly in the year where the Gulf crisis is causing cancellations,” Ms Ní Mhurchú said.
“It’s going to be a very wobbly year, and people are not going to be earning that much money from their self-catering businesses. So, requiring us to turn around and spend a whole year’s income or more on the planning requirement is just too much.”
The ISCF have asked for the introduction of the Short-Term Lettings register to be delayed to September 2026 or beyond to give the Government “a chance to get the register done correctly.”
“We thought it was very ambitious to be expecting to have it in by the 20th of this month. In other words, they expected all of us to start registering now.”
In a statement to RTÉ, a spokesperson for the Department of Enterprise said, “the Government is balancing the need for rental housing stock with the need to protect rural and regional tourism and jobs”.
