Rent crisis and short-term lets
Deputy Bacik presses for stronger action on soaring rents and tighter regulation of short-term lets such as Airbnb. The Minister agrees the crisis is severe and says Housing for All includes restrictions and a registration system for short-term letting.
Why can the Government not do more to help renters? There have been serious rises in the cost of renting in Ireland. Average monthly rents stand at €1,415 and at €2,000 in Dublin. That is an unaffordable chunk of take-home pay for many renters. The issue is lack of regulation and lack of supply. We in the Labour Party previously brought forward a Bill to restrict the use of companies like Airbnb for short-term lets. We are asking the Government to take more urgent action to ensure such short-term lets will not outstrip the supply of long-term lets. Research and analysis by my colleague Senator Rebecca Moynihan has shown that, at a given time in March in nearly every county in Ireland, there were more properties advertised for short-term rental on Airbnb and other sites than on daft.ie for long-term rental. In a total of 11 counties, local authorities took no action against this practice of short-term rentals last year. We need greater supply and we need renters to get a break.
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I read that article. Deputy Bacik and Senator Moynihan are absolutely right to be concerned. Our constituency in particular is at the very epicentre of the rental crisis. It is an issue for the whole country. With regard to Airbnb and the issue of short-term rentals, there is real cause for concern if local authorities are not pursuing it. However, we have to be slightly careful because the measures that were introduced in the Housing for All strategy, which is the best way to address the rental crisis, apply those restrictions or requirements on local authorities in counties where rent pressure zones apply. We have to be careful because many of the counties that have been mentioned are not in rent pressure zones and therefore I imagine the local authority would say it was not required to do anything. The underlying need for regulation is clear and strong. In Housing for All, it was agreed that my colleague, the Minister, Deputy Martin, would develop with Fáilte Ireland a further innovation-----
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-----in the form of a registry system so people involved in such short-term letting would have to be registered. That will be a big help.