As part of the measures to help address pressures in the private housing rental market, new planning legislative reforms to regulate the short-term letting sector came into effect on 1st July 2019. The reforms are primarily aimed at addressing the impact on the private rental market by the use of residential homes for short-term tourism type letting in areas of high housing demand. The provisions only apply in areas designated as “rent pressure zones” under the Residential Tenancies Act 2004 as amended. Short term letting in areas outside the designated rent pressure zones are not impacted in any way by the new arrangements.
To check if your property is in a designated Rent Pressure Zone you must have your property Eircode.
Rent Pressure Zones are available on the Residential Tenancies Board Website www.rtb.ie
The following is a brief summary of the main requirements arising from the combined provisions in the act and the regulations which, as stated above, apply only to rent pressure zones:
- Short-term letting is defined as the letting of a house or apartment, or part of a house or apartment, for any period not exceeding 14 days
- Residents, including home sharers, will be allowed to let their entire principal private residence (house or apartment) on a short-term basis for a cumulative period of up to 90 days per calendar year where they are temporarily absent from their home
- Where the 90 day threshold is exceeded, change of use planning permission will be required
- Where the house or apartment is not a ‘principal private residence’ (i.e. where it is not ordinarily lived in by the owner or leased as a long-term residential accommodation), the 90 day exemption does not apply and change of use planning permission will be required for all short-term letting
- Home sharing (the letting of a room or rooms in a person’s principal private residence) will continue to be permissible on an unrestricted basis and be exempt from the requirements to apply for planning permission.
For further information on the above please contact :
email: planningdevman@carlowcoco.ie or
Phone: 059 9170398