Kilkenny landlords no longer able to rent out other properties on Airbnb
LOCAL landlords will no longer be able to rent out second properties through Airbnb after a clampdown by Kilkenny County Council.
The local authority is taking a hardline stance after the Government unveiled new rent rules earlier this week.
Kilkenny owners of buy-to-let properties, which are not their primary residence, will now have to get planning permission from local councils if they want to use these premises for short-term lets of more than three months every year.
Kilkenny was included in a list of 19 newly designated Rent Pressure Zones (RPZs) announced by the Government this week.
As a result, landlords who currently let a second property on a short-term basis, or are thinking of doing so, will need to apply for ‘change of use’ planning permission to continue to use sites such as Airbnb and Booking.com.
The council this week said landlords to apply for planning permission for this ‘change of use’ are “extremely unlikely” to succeed. Senior planner Dennis Malone told KCLR that granting planning permission “would defeat the purpose of the new legislation”.
Under the new rent regulations, local authorities have far more control over the stock of short-term lettings in areas where there is a high demand for housing. Landlords who flout the new laws can be fined up to €5,000 or jailed for six months, with an additional €1,500 fine for every extra day the rules are breached.
The new rules do not affect people who are already leasing out rooms, or who plan to lease out rooms, in their primary residence. In this situation, homeowners will be only be required to register with Kilkenny County Council to confirm they are letting rooms on Airbnb.
