Lockboxes in Dublin are a symptom that Airbnb and other short-term lets are continuing to “cannablise” the private rental market, the Labour Party has argued.
In May, the Government introduced strict new rules around short-term lets in order to boost housing supply within the long-term rental sector.
In theory, most landlords must now have permission from their local authority to rent out their property on a short-term basis.
However, many continue to ignore the law and this year Dublin City Council has removed over 200 lockboxes, which many landlords use to let tourists into illicitly rented properties.
On The Claire Byrne Show, Labour TD Conor Sheehan noted that the Government first promised to tackle the issue when he was a student in Dublin a decade ago.
“I remember the south east inner city in particular and seeing all the lock boxes at the time outside houses in the general Ringsend sort of Pembroke area,” he recalled.
“Sometimes I have reason to go running that way when I'm staying in Dublin in the mornings when the Dáil is sitting and I was struck a couple of weeks ago when I was out running one lovely July morning that little has actually changed.”
Deputy Sheehan continued that Labour “broadly welcomes” the changes introduced this year but urged officials to “go far deeper here” than smashing up Airbnb lockboxes.
“There has been a lot of lobbying on behalf of tourism providers, which has led to some watering down of the legislation,” he said.
“My concern is around this seven year grandfathering clause; it basically means that a clause is going to be put in that if a short-term let is there and doesn't have valid planning, that it has seven years essentially to regularise itself.
“That, for me, is a cause for concern because the data is very clear that in urban areas, the Dublins, the Corks, the Galways, short-term lets are cannibalising the private rental market.”
The Labour TD continued that local authorities should be "best placed" to enforce the rules governing short-term lets.
"Provided they have the power to levy strong fines on administrative platforms such as Airbnb," he said.
"But also provided that they have the staffing and the resources to do it, because there are a significant number of planning vacancies in the local authority system."
Landlords who let out their properties short-term have argued that the new rules are far too onerous and will reduce the number of visitors who can visit rural areas which rely on tourism.
Main image: A lockbox. Picture by: Alamy.com.
