Regulation of Short-Term Letting

As part of measures to help address pressures in the private housing rental market, new planning legislative reforms to regulate the short term letting sector – as provided for in the Residential Tenancies (Amendment) Act 2019 and supplementary regulations made by the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government entitled the Planning and Development Act 2000 (Exempted Development) (No. 2) Regulations 2019 – came into effect on 1 July 2019.

The reforms were primarily aimed at addressing the impact on the private rental market of the use of residential homes for short term tourism type letting in areas of high housing demand. Accordingly, the new provisions only applied in areas designated as 'Rent Pressure Zones' under the Residential Tenancies Act 2004, (as amended) and in Co. Kilkenny this related to the Kilkenny & Piltown Local Electoral Areas (LEA's).  However, on 20th June 2025, Rent Pressure Zones were extended nationwide, resulting in the entire county of Kilkenny becoming a rent pressure zone, thus extending the requirement for planning for short-term letting.

Definition of short-term letting:

Short-term letting is defined at section 3A of the Planning and Development Act 2000, (as amended), as the use of a house or part of a house situated in a rent pressure zone for short-term letting for any period not exceeding 14 days.  

Current rules for short-term letting: 

Current regulations for planning requirements for short-term letting properties are contained in the Planning and Development Act 2000 (Exempted Development) (No.2) Regulations 2019.  These regulations, and associated explanatory documents, are available at Circular PL 04/2019 - New Regulation of Short-Term Letting, see; https://assets.gov.ie/static/documents/circular-pl-042019-new-regulation-of-short-term-letting.pdf

Proposed changes to planning requirements for short-term letting:

The Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage is currently carrying out a review of the Planning & Development Act 2024 and is developing guidance for local authorities on short-term letting by way of a National Planning Statement.

Purpose of the National Planning Statement on short-term letting:

The National Planning Statement for short-term letting will ensure that there is a clear overall policy approach, both at national level and local authority level, to enable planning authorities to determine planning applications for short-term lets across the country.  It will consider a variety of factors, such as existing planning legislation, the long-term housing need in the local authority area, the location of the proposed short-term let and balancing housing need with the potential impact on tourism and economic development.

Updates to be made to the legislation:

Amendments are due to be made to sections 7 & 8 of the Planning and Development Act 2024, see; https://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/2024/act/34/enacted/en/pdf

These changes are currently at drafting stage and will;

• remove references to rent pressure zones from Planning Act as they relate to short-term letting, therefore ensuring the requirement for planning permission for short-term lets remains nationwide irrespective of any changes to the designation of rent pressure zones,
• update the definition of short-term letting to match the definition included in both the EU Directive on Short-Term Letting and Tourism Bill 2025,
• extend the time period for the dividing line between short-term lets and long-term rentals from 14 days to 21 days to align provisions of the Planning Act with separate Registration System for short-term lets.

Obligations for short-term letting platforms from 20th May 2026

Clearly display STL registration numbers.

From 20th May 2026 platforms will have to facilitate and display STL host registration information for every listed unit.  The listing must clearly display this number, and platforms must enable hosts to easily provide it.

Unit

A unit is a furnished accommodation, including whole properties, such as an entire house or apartment, or the rental of a room(s) in your home, advertised for short-term letting.

A unit does not include the following: hotels and similar accommodation, including resort hotels, suite or apartment hotels and motels, hostels, guesthouses, bed and breakfasts or accommodation provided in camping grounds, recreational vehicle parks and trailer parks.

Exemptions:

The letting of a room or rooms in a person's principal private residence is permissable on an unrestricted basis and is exempt from planning requirements.

It should be noted that homesharers are currently allowed to sub-let their entire principal private residence (house or apartment) on a short-term basis for a cumulative period of 90 days where they are temporarily absent from their home.  Where the 90 day threshold is exceeded, change of use planning permission will be required.

• Form 15 – should be completed at the start of each year
• Form 16 – should be completed when 90 day cap has been reached
• Form 17 – should be completed at the end of each year
• New-Regulation-of-Short-Term-Lettings-FAQs.pdf (size 726.6 KB)

Please see the following publication by the Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment titled 'Short-Term Letting in Ireland - what you need to know'

https://enterprise.gov.ie/en/what-we-do/the-business-environment/tourism/short-term-letting/

In the event you wish to discuss further please contact the Short-Term Letting Section, Planning Department, Kilkenny Co. Co. on Tel: 056 7794010.  Alternatively email; planning@kilkennycoco.ie

Updated April 2026.