Housing Policy
Seanad Éireann — 2026-02-11
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Frankie Feighan (FG), Sligo-Leitrim

I thank Senator Conway for giving me the opportunity to update the House on behalf of the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Deputy Browne, on planning requirements for short-term lettings. I thank Senator Conway for articulating the concerns raised with him. It was a powerful intervention. Action 7.16 of Delivering Homes, Building Communities 2025-2030 states that the Government will introduce increased regulation of the short-term letting sector by introducing a short-term letting and tourism Bill and that a national planning statement will provide guidance for local authorities when deciding on planning applications for short-term lets.
In April 2025 a Government decision set out a policy direction which proposes restricting, through a general presumption against granting planning permission, short-term letting in cities and larger towns. Following this decision, the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage is developing a national planning statement under section 25 of the Planning and Development Act 2024 for short-term letting activity. National planning statements replace section 28 ministerial guidelines and require the approval of the Government. They are intended to provide consistent national planning policies that all regional and local authorities must follow. This will ensure better alignment with Government priorities and more effective delivery of housing and infrastructure nationwide. The national planning statement for short-term letting will ensure that there is a clear overall policy approach, both at national level and local authority level, to determining planning applications for short-term lets. The national planning statement will consider a variety of factors to balance housing need in our cities and larger towns with the potential impact on tourism and economic development elsewhere.
On 1 July 2019, planning legislative reforms to regulate the short-term letting sector came into effect as an amendment to the Planning and Development Act 2000 and the 2001 regulations. These regulations provide that 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, they are required to apply for a change-of-use planning permission unless the property already has specific planning permission to be used for tourism or short-term letting purposes. With the nationwide extension of rent pressure zones in June last year, the legislative requirement to gain planning permission for short-term letting use was also extended nationwide.
In tandem with the development of the national planning statement on short-term letting, and following a review of the short-term letting provisions contained in the Planning and Development Act 2000, as amended, and the Planning and Development Act 2024, the Department recently brought forward amendments to the planning Acts. These amendments seek to remove references to rent pressure zones in respect of short-term lets and to codify short-term letting as a material change of use. These amendments are included in the Residential Tenancies (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2026, which was published on 30 January. It is anticipated that the Bill will be enacted by 1 March.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2026-02-11/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:37+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-02-11