Cllr demands clampdown on short-term holiday lets

The council is “aware” of cases where people have let homes for short-term holiday stays without the necessary planning permission in place, but don’t believe it to be a major problem in Cavan.

Currently, where a house or apartment is not a principal private residence, planning permission must be sought for it to be used in the short-term rental sector.

Director of Services Brendan Jennings said that Cavan County Council “are going down a formal route” to address such anomalies, but that it only affected a “very small percentage”.

He gave the response to a motion tabled by Sinn Féin’s Paddy McDonald who asked that the local authority commit to “clamping down” on short term holiday lets that do not have the relevant permissions.

At the time the February monthly meeting of elected members took place, Cllr McDonald claimed there were “over 450 properties” such short-term lets advertised on the Airbnb website listed in Co Cavan. “The majority of which are whole, detached properties,” he said, noting that if the council cross references these properties to planning records “you will find that a very high percentage of them don’t have the necessary planning approval".

Some, he continued, “don’t even have planning permission to have sleeping quarters at all”.

Cllr McDonald claimed that these “unapproved enterprises” were capable of generating a turnover of between €80k-100,000 per year for their respective owners.

“We have no official emergency accommodation in Cavan and approximately 1,100 people are on the housing list and HAP [Housing Assistance Payment]. If these short term lets were examined more, there would be a lot more housing stock available for families who desperately need rental properties,” the Bailieborough-based Sinn Féin representative told the meeting.

He concluded by asking if the council had examined the issue and, if not, queried whether additional support from the Department “to tackle this really important issue” was needed.

The motion was seconded by Aontú’s Sarah O’Reilly.

Under new rules that went before cabinet last year, it is proposed that properties advertised for short-term letting online will be obliged to have a valid registration number with Fáilte Ireland.

Suppliers offering accommodation for periods up to and including 21 nights will also need to be registered.

The legislative change proposes introducing penalties for property owners, as well as host platforms in the event of non-compliance.

Reports at the time suggesting that up to 12,000 properties could be freed up from short-term lets and benefit long-term housing needs were greeted with scepticism by industry experts.

Mr Jennings informed elected members that county councils were charged with implementing the current regulations from 2019.

He reiterated the position that planning permission is “required” for anyone looking to let a house or apartment that is not already their principal private residence.

There is no obligation on rental platforms to check whether a property has relevant planning permission prior to it being listed on their site.