Galway City planning officials flag enforcement problems with Airbnb regulations

From this week’s Galway City Tribune – Planners at City Hall have flagged how difficult it is to effectively enforce regulations around short-term letting, such as Airbnb.

Owners of short-term lets must apply for planning permission to operate, but Galway City Council’s Planning Department has warned that it was “a very difficult area to effectively enforce”.

The Council’s fears about implementing regulations around the short-term letting system are contained in a 78-page planning performance review carried out by the Planning Regulator.

It noted that just five planning applications have been generated in relation to the regularisation of holiday properties as short-term lets.

“This is despite the city’s significant tourism offer and the fact that the entirety of the Council’s administrative area is within a Rent Pressure Zone,” the report said.

The Council said it had received about 40 complaints about short-term lets in the past two years, with each complaint generating up to 100 individual items of correspondence. According to the review, so far, 20 warning letters have issued in respect of these complaints, two enforcement notices have issued, and five have been satisfactorily resolved.

This is a shortened preview version of this article. To read the rest of the story and the Planning Regulator’s report, see this week’s Galway City Tribune. You can buy a digital edition HERE.