THERE are over seven times the number of short-term lettings in Limerick than homes for long-term rental.
That’s according to Green Party MEP for Ireland South, Grace O’Sullivan, who has called for urgent EU action to tackle the abuse of short-term letting.
Speaking from Strasbourg as the European Parliament debated new regulations on short term lettings, Ms O’Sullivan called for a more balanced approach between short-term tourism letting and longer-term rentals.
“Short-term letting can be good for tourism and the local economy, but this positive quickly becomes a negative when local workers and families are priced out of the area or availability dries up,” the MEP said.
“We’re not talking about people earning a few extra euro by letting out a room or a granny-flat on a short-term basis. We’re not talking about purpose-built tourism accommodation. We’re talking about full units that would otherwise be family homes being taken off the rental market.”
Ms O’Sullivan hit out that it has gone too far with 220 short-term lets available in Limerick on Airbnb this week versus just 31 homes available to rent on Daft.
“This is not sustainable for the local community or the local economy and we must empower local authorities and national governments to tackle this imbalance. I’m calling on the European Commission to approve Ireland’s proposed regulation of short-term letting as soon as possible and I welcome the European Parliament approval this week of Europe-wide rules on short-term letting transparency to facilitate enforcement of the rules.”
