Mayo Airbnb providers will be required to register their property from next May

MAYO people who advertise their property for short-term letting on platforms such as Airbnb will have to register their property with Fáilte Ireland and may be required to get planning permission.

Members of Mayo County Council were informed that changes to short-term letting which will be introduced next May will mean that people who want to advertise on Airbnb will have to be registered and those who operate for more than 90 days per year will have to get planning permission.

The information was confirmed by Catherine McConnell, the Director of Services with responsibility for planning, following questions on the subjects by two west Mayo councillors at the monthly meeting of Mayo County Council yesterday (Monday).

READ: Mayo contractor jointly awarded construction of underpass at Dublin Airport

“We are looking at a situation in May next year where everybody involved in short-term holiday rental will have to be registered with a national registration. It will require planning permission if you are going to be using a unit for longer than a certain number of days and I think that is about 90 days in the calendar year.

Obligation

“PEOPLE will have an obligation if they want to continue to rent their property as a short term holiday rental on a continuous basis to seek planning permission,” she explained.

Ms McConnell added that the moment the onus is on the owner of the property to self declare but from May onwards they will not be allowed to advertise on platforms like Airbnb without registering with Fáilte Ireland.

Independent councillor John O’Malley told the meeting that he had spoken to people who let their property on Airbnb and they will have no option but to sell the property if they have to apply for planning permission.

“Some people have told me that they will have no choice but to get rid of that house. We need Airbnbs because there are not enough hotels and even if there are, not everybody can afford a hotel.

“The Airbnbs in rural areas are very important as they bring people into rural areas and we welcome that. Do they have to get planning just because they are using Airbnbs because if that is the case it is scandalous,” he said.

A recent Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) study found that the concentration of Airbnb listings in the Westport area is among the highest in Ireland with one in three private rented properties in the area listed on the popular homesharing platform.

Ms McConnell said that there were a number of residential units in towns like Westport and Killarney which were not being made available for permanent occupation and were pushing rental costs upwards.

Blight

WESTPORT-based councillor Peter Flynn had earlier asked for a report on what Mayo County Council were doing to address what he called ‘the blight of Airbnb’ in towns like Westport.

“My issue is not with people renting a room or part of their house or chalet or people in rural areas where you don’t have hotels or hostels. Mine is focused on town centres within our county where we cannot find locations for people to rent and I make no apologies for that. I will continue to fight the fight in relation to getting people living permanently in town centres and not having a transient community,” he said.

When questioned on how this will be enforced, Ms McConnell said she suspected this will be the responsibility of the local authority.

Ballinrobe-based councillor Michael Burke commented that it was a lot more attractive for people to use platforms like Airbnb than to let a property long-term and heard of one person in Galway who is letting 24 properties on Airbnb.

Cllr O’Malley agreed saying that people prefer to let short-term as there have been incidents where people have had to spend up to €20,000 repairing a house after a tenant vacanted it.