Updated 08:45

New laws are being introduced to crack down on short term lettings like AirBnB.

The government is hoping stricter rules will free up more homes as the housing crisis continues.

Under the new plans, homeowners will only be allowed to rent out a room on a short term basis if it is located in their primary residence.

Any secondary property can't be used for short-term letting unless planning permission is approved and it will be up to each local planning board to decide whether or not to give that based on housing demands in the area.

It means a landlord with four homes can use their own house for short term lettings - but would need planning permission in the other three which is unlikely to be granted in areas where housing is scarce.

They will be allowed to let out single rooms in their private residence all year round - or the entire home for a maximum of 90 days a year.

The homeowner will also now have to register the short-term letting with their local council – and will have to notify their local planning authority as to how many days a year the property is used as a short term let.

Housing crisis

It is hoped the new regulations will stop the practice of private rental accommodation being taken off the market for use on sites like AirBnB which can be more financially lucrative.

The rule changes will come in on June 1st 2019 and will define short term letting as the use of bedrooms as guest accommodation for a maximum of two weeks.

Housing Minister Eoghan Murphy has said it is unacceptable that rental homes are being withdrawn from the market for use as short term lettings at a time when the country is facing a housing shortage.

#POLL We are speaking to Minister @MurphyEoghan regarding an attempt to clamp down on short term lettings to help relieve pressure on the housing crisis. Should private landlords be allowed to rent out their properties via organisations like AirBnB without restrictions? #BKNT

— Newstalk Breakfast (@BreakfastNT) October 25, 2018

On Newstalk Breakfast this morning, the Housing Minister Eoghan Murphy said the new regulations are aimed at landlords who own a number of properties.

“If it is not you primary residence; if it is not your home but a second property that you own you will no longer be able to [..] have it as a short-term let,” he said.

“You will have to bring it back into the long-term market or sell the home depending on what you choose to do.

“You can go for planning permission; that is always possible because this will be a change of use but in high-demand areas local authorities will be getting guidance from my own department about restricting the number of short-term lets that are available.

“So it will be very difficult to get a change of planning.”

The Housing Minister Eoghan Murphy

He said the plan will bring second properties back into the long-term rental stock in areas where there is high demand, while still allowing people to share their homes on a short-term basis.

"If we can get 1,000 homes that are currently being used for tourism back into long-term letting for people who are living and working in the Greater Dublin area, I think that is going to have a very important impact," he said.

"Particularly when we look at the number of people who are coming into emergency accommodation because there is not enough rental stock out there and they are finding it very difficult to find new accommodation.

"While we build new homes - thousands of new homes - being able to get 1,000 existing homes back into use for long-term rental I think is very important."

"False promise"

In a statement this afternoon, Airbnb said one-in-five Irish families use the home-sharing service to “boost their income and explore the world” and insisted that “rules that legitimise home sharing are in everyone's best interests.”

“Home sharing didn't cause Ireland's historic housing concerns, and many will be disheartened to hear a false promise that these proposals are the solution,” it said.

“Community hospitality and holiday rentals are the backbone of many local economies, and cutting that lifeline will hit many communities hard.”

The company noted that the per capita level of house-building in Ireland is the fourth lowest in the EU - while population growth is five times the EU average.