Renting your property for short-term lets

A short-term let is when you rent out your property or a room in your property for people to stay there for less than 14 days at a time. For example, if you rent out your property on a booking website such as Airbnb so people can stay there for a weekend.

If you rent out your property to visitors for short-term lets, you may need to get planning permission from your local authority or apply for an exemption. This also applies if you are renting a room in your property for short-term lets.

The short-term letting regulations were introduced in July 2019. They aim to bring properties used for short-term tourist lettings in Rent Pressure Zones (RPZs) back to the long-term rental market. These regulations will continue as long as RPZs are in place.

Planned changes to rules about short-term lets

More legislation about short-term lets was due to apply from 1 September 2022, but it has been delayed.

This planned legislation will mean that online platforms, such as Airbnb, will not be able to advertise properties for short-term let if the properties are not registered with Fáilte Ireland and the owners have confirmed they have the correct planning permission, if it is needed.

However, this rule is not yet in effect. See the ‘What is the short-term tourist letting register?’ section below for more information about the planned system.

Short-term lets and taxes

If you are renting out your property for short-term lets in any area, you need to declare the income you make from this to Revenue each year. See ‘What are my tax implications when renting a short-term let’ below for more information.

Planning permission

If you are renting out a property, or a room in your property for short-term lets, you may have to apply to your local authority for planning permission to change the use of the property, so it can be used for tourism and short-term letting purposes.

This requirement for planning permission only applies to homeowners in Rent Pressure Zones (RPZs) who:

• Let out their entire home (principal private residence) for short-term lets of more than 90 days in total while they are away. (Your principal private residence is the place where you ordinarily live).
• Let out a second property for short-term lets.

It is unlikely that planning permission for short-term lets will be granted in areas of high housing demand, where there is high rent inflation, insufficient supply and lots of applications.

Exemptions from the planning permission requirements

You do not have to apply for planning permission if:

• Your property is not in a Rent Pressure Zone (RPZ)
• Your property is in an RPZ, but you let rooms or the entire property out for 15 days or more at a time
• Your property already has planning permission to be used for tourism or short-term letting purposes
• Your property is used for corporate or executive lets. For example, lettings provided for people coming to Ireland under employment contracts.
• You rent your property out under the rent-a-room scheme
• You are ‘home-sharing’. Home-sharing is where a homeowner rents a room or rooms in their principal private residence for short-term lets while they are also occupying it. (In this situation you can offer unlimited short-term lettings for less than 14 days at a time.)
• You rent out your entire principal private residence for short-term visitors for less than 90 days a year while you are temporarily away. The 90 days do not have to be consecutive.
• The property is purpose-built student accommodation. (This accommodation generally has the required planning permission, which means accommodation is reserved for students during the academic year, but short-stays are allowed outside of term time.)

Note: If you own an apartment or house in an RPZ that is not your principal private residence and you rent it to students during the academic terms, but want to use it for short-term lettings during the summer holidays, you need to apply for planning permission from your local authority.

Registering with the planning authority

In certain situations you will need to register with the planning authority in order to get an exemption from the requirement for planning permission. This applies if:

• You rent a room in your principal private residence for short-term lets while you are also occupying it
• You are going to be away from your principle private residence and you want to let it out on a short-term basis, for less than 90 days in a calendar year

See the ‘How to apply’ section below for information on what you need to do to register with the planning authority.

For more information on these new regulations see the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage's New Regulation of Short-Term Lettings FAQ’s.

A new online registration system for short-term lets is being developed and is due to be launched later in 2024. Under the new system, you will have to register your short-term let online with Fáilte Ireland every year. This system is not yet in place.

Who will have to register?

You will have to register if you offer short-term accommodation for 21 nights or less.

This applies to the following properties if they are let on a short-term basis:

• Bedrooms in your primary home
• Entire properties
• Multiple units at a single address or Eircode. For example, a camping resort, holiday village or apartment block.

How will I register? 

To register you will need to:

• Provide your details
• Provide information about your property, including the Eircode
• Confirm you have planning permission to operate as a short-term let. It is intended that you will not need documentation to prove this.
• Pay a registration fee

Why do I need to register? 

Once you are registered you will get a short-term tourist letting registration number. You will need this number to list your property on holiday booking websites and in advertisements.

These booking platforms will only be able to list short-term let properties with a valid Failte Ireland registration number.

Your short-term let property will also be listed on the short-term tourist letting register on the Fáilte Ireland website.

More information about the planned register

Fáilte Ireland has more information about the planned register including an FAQ that answers some of the main questions about it. This page will be updated when the required legislation takes effect and more detail is available.

Under the Planning and Development Act 2000 planning authorities can take legal action if a property does not have the required permission, or where terms of the permission have not been met.

New legislation for short-term lets will mean that property owners and websites that advertise short-term lets, will both be fined if the properties being advertised do not have the correct planning permission. However, this does not yet apply.

You must pay tax on any income you make from renting accommodation to guests on a short-term basis. This income must be declared to Revenue each year. You can complete and submit your tax return form online using:

• Revenue's myAccount Service if you are a PAYE taxpayer (Form 12)
• Revenue Online Service (ROS) if you are self-employed or a PAYE taxpayer with other sources of income (Form 11)

Alternatively, you can complete a hard-copy annual tax return and return it to your local tax office.

How is income from short-term lets taxed?

The income you make from short-term lets is not considered to be rental income for tax purposes. This is because your visitors use your accommodation as guests rather than tenants. 

This income is taxed as:

• Other income, if the income is occasional
• Trading income, if you are trading as an ongoing business, such as a bed and breakfast or a guesthouse

The tax office can answer any queries you may have and will help if you have any difficulties completing the form. Find more information in our document on ‘How to comply with your tax obligations’ or on revenue.ie.

To apply for planning permission to use a property for short-term lettings the usual fees for ‘change in use’ of a building from residential to commercial apply. See below.

There is no charge to register your short-term let with the local authority, if you are exempt from the planning permission requirement but need to notify them about the exemption, see ‘Registering with the planning authority’ above.

Applying for planning permission

If you need to get planning permission you fill in a planning permission form, which is available on your local authority's website. Submit the completed form and the required documents to the Planning Department of your local authority. For new short-term letting use you should apply for planning permission, whereas for existing unauthorised use you must apply for retention permission. It normally takes about 8 weeks to process an application.

When making its decision on a planning application about short-term letting the planning authority will take a number of things into account, such as whether the area is experiencing high housing demand, high rent inflation, insufficient supply and lots of planning applications for short-term lets. It should be noted that if this is the case, it is unlikely that planning permission will be granted.

You can appeal a planning permission decision to An Bord Pleanála. For more information on how to do this, read An Bord Pleanála’s Guide to making a Planning Appeal.

Registering with the local authority

If you are offering short-term lettings in an RPZ area, but are exempt from the planning permission requirement, you still need to register with the local authority to avail of this exemption.

You must complete the following forms and provide any additional documents needed and send them to your local authority within the required time limits.

• Form 15 – Start of year notification form. This form should be sent to your local authority within 4 weeks of the start of each year, and no later than 2 weeks before the first short-term let of the year for that property.
• Form 17 – End of year notification form. This should be sent to your local authority between the 1 and 28 January of the year after the lettings have taken place.
• Form 16 – 90 day threshold notification form. This should only be sent to your local authority if you are a homeowner temporarily away from your home and reach the 90 day threshold during the year. You should submit the form no more than 2 weeks after the 90 day threshold has been reached.

You will have to provide documentation proving that the property is your principal private residence.

These registration forms are available on your local authority's website and they can be sent by email or post. Dublin City Council also has an online application option.

Apply to your local authority for planning permission.