'If you look up Leitrim Airbnb to day there are 500 properties' Leitrim councillor calls for reduction in short-term lets

Cllr Brendan Barry asked Leitrim County Council how many planning applications for change of use from a home/residence to use as short term let (Airbnb) have been granted in the county and called the council and government to do more to reduce the numbers of people and families who have to live in hotel rooms and get more hotel beds available for tourists and visitors instead of houses on short term lets.

He urged: "The use of houses and apartments for short term lets for part of the year during this housing emergency needs to be discouraged."

Cllr Barry noted that from last year, "the rules around the Rent Pressure Zones changed for the whole country and short-term lets require planning permission. If you look Airbnb today, there are 400 or 500 properties available if you put in a search for Co. Leitrim, although they're not all in Co. Leitrim. I'm not saying they all should be stopped from being Airbnbs but it should be tightened up a bit to try and reduce them and make more available for people who desperately need houses."

The official response said that since beginning of January 2024, one planning permission has been granted to retain the conversion of a dwelling house for use as short term accommodation (B&B) in Tullaghan and there ahs been a total of seven permissions granted planning permission to change the use of former commercial properties, some of which were vacant, into short term accommodation (four in Carrick-on-Shannon, one in Keshcarrigan, one in Lurganboy and one in Manorhamilton). Planning permission was also granted to convert an outbuilding into short-term accommodation in Dromahair.

Cllr Barry continued: "Rent is going through the roof and part of that is lack of supply so if we have up on 500 houses in the Leitrim and the surrounding area that are tied up in short-term lets that's reducing supply and driving up rents."

READ MORE: 'The amount of red tape' to register premises is 'ridiculous ' - Leitrim IPAV president

The response continued that as there was no Rent Pressure Zone within the County at the time the County Development Plan 2023-2029 and joint Carrick-on-Shannon Local Area Plan 2025-2031 were adopted, there is no specific policy dealing with change of use applications for short term letting. However, the County Development Plan 2023-2029 is supportive of providing for a variety of tourist accommodation to facilitate the sustainable development of a variety of quality tourist accommodation including hotels, guesthouses, hostels, B&Bs, holiday homes, glamping/camping/caravan and campervans at suitable locations, throughout the county. This will guide the consideration of any such planning applications by the Planning Authority.

Cllr Barry continued that another was "protecting rate payers. We have a hotel in Drumshanbo which has changed ownership recently but if we have a load of short-term lets around that are not paying rates and not meeting planning requirements, they are undermining the possibility of that business reopening and being successful. It's not fair play."

Cllr Irene Guckian-Rabbitte however, disagreed and stated that "it feels like we are bordering on infringing on people's property rights and going backwards". 

READ MORE: Free battery recycling scheme launched for Leitrim this new year

She said there are some "issues regarding Airbnbs and short-term lets, they are not the overall problem" and said it was down to "inadequate long-term planning" for housing in the country.

She said sometimes don't want to stay in a hotel and "want a home away from home". 

Cllr Mary Bohan said there was "a huge shortage of B&Bs and accommodation in Leitrim" and said that she is aware of people coming home for family occasions who had to stay in Sligo. 

She said: "We need to be very careful because short-term lets are the reason for the housing shortage."

Cllr Justin Warnock said: "We don't have the accommodation for those who want to come and stay and our county depends a lot on tourism so we need to be careful how we manage this."

Cllr Sean McGowan also supported Cllr Bohan's comments.