New short-term letting regulations are coming into effect.

The new rules, from July 1st, mean that planning permission will be required for the short-term letting of properties that are not the landlord's principal private residence.

Under commercial planning permission, extra water, insurance and commercial rates will be enforced.

Property owners will still be able offer rooms within their own homes for short-term stays year round.

It is part of a major clampdown on short-term holiday lettings, which housing services have warned are adding pressure to the housing crisis.

The housing charity Threshold has welcomed the new regulations.

Its chief executive, John-Mark McCafferty, says: "If properly enforced, the regulations should release much needed rental homes back into the market.

"At a time when 1,729 families and a further 4,000 individuals are homeless, measures such as this are an essential part of the overall housing solution."

"The impact of short-term-lets on housing supply is a global issue which requires both robust regulation and zealous enforcement in order to curb their effect."

However, Mr McCafferty believes the changes will take time to filter down.

"The new regulations were announced at the end of last year, and come into effect today, but we are concerned that the impact of these changes have not filtered down to hosts.

"However the new restrictions will release badly needed housing onto the market and we believe this can have a positive impact for those families who are currently experiencing homelessness".

While Labour Senator Kevin Humphreys has concerns over how the new rules will be enforced.

He says: "The Department of Housing has only just provided Dublin City Council with additional resources to begin the recruitment process for staff tasked with enforcing the new regulations.

"There is no way the required staff will be hired, trained and in place by the beginning of July.

"Following enquiries I made to Dublin City Council, I was informed that the department had only recently sanctioned additional resources for the hiring of staff and that the recruitment process had not yet begun.

"Yet these new measures were announced in October 2018."

"I want the Minister to explain why his department, working with Dublin City Council, did not ensure the necessary staffing levels were in place before the beginning of July, and to clarify if he was aware that the necessary work was not being done to meet the deadline set by his own department."

Senator Humphreys outlined the changes on Newstalk Breakfast earlier.

Figures from January 2018 showed that short-term rental website Airbnb generated an estimated €506m for local residents and businesses here.

The report said guest growth of 63% was spread across all regions, with the typical Irish host earning around €3,500 per year.

And data from the EU agency Eurostat found that Ireland was one of the most popular homesharing destinations in Europe - roughly one in five of Irish residents were arranging accommodation with another private individual.

This put Ireland at the third highest in Europe, after the UK and Luxembourg.

The report found that guests on Airbnb spent an average of €111 per day, increasing to an average of €129 in Dublin.

While earlier this year, several European cities asked the European Union for help against the "explosive growth" of Airbnb and other types of rental platforms.

They are calling for new rules to protect the housing market, and want the issue to be on the agenda of the next European Commission.