The new provisions will 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.
Under the new arrangements applicable in 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
- Homesharing (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 exempted from the new planning requirements
- Homesharers will be allowed to sub-let their entire principle private residence (house or apartment) on a short term basis for a cumulative period of 90 days where they are temporarily absent from their home
- Where the 90 day threshold is exceeded, change of use planning permission will be required
If you homeshare your principal private residence in a rent pressure zone and wish to avail of the new planning exemptions, you will need to register this with your local authority and fulfil specified reporting obligations.
However, where a person owns a property in a rent pressure zone which is not their principal private residence and intends to let it for short-term letting purposes, s/he will be required to apply for a change of use planning permission unless the property already has a specific planning permission to be used for tourism or short-term letting purposes.
The associated Frequently Asked Questions document has been prepared to assist in providing a more comprehensive and detailed understanding of the new short term letting reforms and the new reporting obligations on homesharers.