Sinn Féin spokesperson on Housing, Eoin Ó Broin TD, has called on the government to urgently give effect to Sinn Féin’s Short Term Lettings Enforcement Bill 2022 to address the growth of illegal short-term lettings in Rent Pressure Zones.

The Bill was passed by the Dáil in May 2022.

Teachta Ó Broin said:

“There are more short-term lettings being advertised in Rent Pressure Zones than there are long-term rentals. The vast majority of these listings are in breach of planning law. Yet the owners, and online platforms that facilitate them, are profiting from what are clear breaches of planning law.

“The only way to address this is to make it a requirement for online platforms to ensure that the properties they list have the appropriate planning permission in Rent Pressure Zones and if not for the platforms to be subject to daily fines.

“In 2022, I tabled the Short-Term Letting Enforcement Bill. It was passed without opposition from government.

“Yet here we are, two years on, and no action has been taken. The consequence of this is properties that should be available for long-term letting are in the short-term letting market, contrary to the government’s own 2019 regulations.

“At a time of rising homelessness and a shrinking private rental sector, this is not acceptable. I am calling on Minister for Housing Darragh O’Brien and the government to urgently give effect to Sinn Féin’s Short Term Lettings Enforcement Bill 2022 to address the growth of illegal short-term lettings in Rent Pressure Zones.”