Report shows Dublin landlords favour short-term rentals
More than half of all available rental properties in Dublin are being listed as short-term tourist lets — because landlords are aiming to rent them to tourists.
New research from Daft.ie showed that 53% of rental properties in the capital are being listed as short-term lets.
According to the research, yesterday there were 1,258 long-term rental properties available in Dublin on the property website, while the stock of full homes to let via Airbnb from professional listers was 1,419. The latter figure was from independent website Inside Airbnb.
Daft.ie also claimed there has been no slowing in the decline in long-term rental accommodation, with stock on the Dublin rental market likely to be below 1,000 units by the end of this year — the first time to reach that level since 2001.
The co-founder of Daft.ie, Eamonn Fallon, said: “Action urgently needs to be taken to increase supply, both in Dublin and nationwide. The country needs close to 50,000 homes a year to cater to underlying housing demand, both market and social. Of the 50,000 homes, 15,000 are needed for the rental market with 10,000 of those in the capital.
To put the scale of this challenge into concrete terms, Dublin alone needs an apartment block of 200 units to open every week for at least the next decade.
Martin Clancy of Daft.ie said: “Rents have been rising as supply continues to bottom out nationwide. Despite a cap of 4% on sitting tenants, rental inflation has been above 10% nationwide and shows no sign of abating without a sharp increase in supply.”
The shortage of rental accommodation comes in the midst of an unprecedented homelessness crisis.
However, Margaret McCormick of the Irish Property Owners Association (IPOA) said Government efforts to tackle the crisis had actually harmed the level of existing stock.
Ms McCormick also said that one reading of the Daft.ie figures on short-term lets was that many landlords who tend to rent to students for the college year were loathe to do anything other than short-term lets for the summer months.
"There are a lot of members that let to students and they will be leaving in May and they are afraid to let on the open market again,” she said.
“If they [the new tenants] don’t leave when they are supposed to leave there is a difficulty.
Ms McCormick also said that while rental levels are criticised, “the State’s is the biggest take” based on the taxable income.
