Airbnb has called for clear regulation of the home-sharing sector in Ireland.
The company’s Public Policy Director for the EMEA region, Patrick Robinson, told the Oireachtas Housing committee today that "clear regulation is good for our host community and our business.
It does not currently exist in Ireland. And that is why we are part of this conversation.
He said unlike many other cities and countries in Europe, Ireland lacks an up-to-date regulatory framework that clearly recognises home sharing as a distinct kind of short term rental activity.
However, he said there was a question about where the burden of regulation should lie, and that this was a question for the Government.
The Airbnb representative said there needs to be a definition of what a professional letter is in Ireland.
He said: "What does it want to allow and what does it not want to allow? The fact is that the planning rules here are really unclear."
Mr Robinson told the committee that a typical Irish Airbnb host earns €5,000 per year and hosts guests for 51 nights.
Giving details of Airbnb’s Irish operation, he said: "In Dublin, 3,838 entire home listings were booked at some point in 2016. 85% of these were rented for fewer than 161 nights. Only 16 entire home listings were booked for more than 320 nights."
Headlines that focus only on the number of entire home listings on Airbnb ignore the fact that the vast majority of these homes are places where Dubliners already live.
"There is no simple conclusion to be drawn about the availability or affordability of long-term housing in Dublin from the simple number of entire homes offered on Airbnb."
Mr Robinson was unable to give the committee detailed information on the Airbnb host demographics, such as if they lived in the homes they were advertising rooms in and on the types of properties available on the site.
Housing committee member and Fine Gael TD Fergus O'Dowd said there needs to be control on Airbnb in areas where housing needs are not being met, adding that: "People are getting much higher rents and they are displacing people who need them as homes."
However, the Airbnb director said the point at which short-term rentals become potentially more lucrative for a landlord than long-term rentals is "higher than often assumed".
Our analysis suggests that this tipping point lies at up to circa 185 nights per year (depending on the neighbourhood).
"Only 550 entire home properties were booked via Airbnb for more than 160 nights, and these account for just one in every thousand housing units in Dublin."
Sinn Féin TD Eoin Ó Broin said the real issue is not the person who shares their home, rather if people are abusing the platform to make more money or to avoid regulations such as building standards.
