The Government’s inaction on the regulation of short-term lets is “hard to understand” considering the extent of the housing crisis, the Social Democrats have said.
In September, there were 10,975 people in emergency accommodation and TD Cian O’Callaghan said the crisis is causing “massive distress” even to those who have a roof over their head.
The Irish Independent reports that the Government has delayed the introduction of a register for short-term lets like Airbnb by a further five months - something the Social Democrats say should have been “relatively straightforward”.
“It is very hard to understand how some of the easier to do things on the Government’s list haven’t been done yet,” Mr O’Callaghan told The Pat Kenny Show.
Many landlords prefer short-term lets over long-term leases because they can charge much higher prices - particularly during the tourist season.
However, housing campaigners say the proliferation of short-term lets in many areas has deprived locals of housing they would otherwise live in.
“If you don’t regulate and put a limit on the amount of short-term lets in the area it becomes a dominant form of supply and displaces others,” Mr O’Callaghan said.
“There’s a real issue, particularly in more touristy parts of the country… where new housing estates were built to meet local housing needs and if you now go to them, the entire housing estate is now holiday homes.”
BBYCFB Young people in new apartment blocks in the dockland area of central Dublin Republic of IrelandOn census night in 2022, there were 33,000 temporarily unoccupied and Mr O’Callaghan believes that the Government should increase the vacant home tax.
“Every home has a huge amount of public investment in it in terms of the infrastructure - the water infrastructure, transport, roads, amenities. So, having an empty home with all that public investment, having it sitting empty for no good reason, that actually comes at a huge cost.”
Main image: Holiday Homes on Atlantic West Coast of Ireland. Picture by: Alamy.com
