REVELEAD: Hundreds of holiday homes 'under threat' across Donegal

Over 600 holiday homes in Donegal may have to close down if the government continues down the same route as the previous government in relation to the Short Term Letting and Tourism Bill.

The Bill, which is back on the Cabinet table for discussion, was the previous government’s answer to the housing crisis and sought to force holiday home owners to abandon short-term rentals, such as Airbnb, and turn them over to the long-term rental sector.

Throughout Ireland, Fáite Ireland identified 10,731 properties offering short-term rentals that they deemed would be suitable for long-term rentals and of these 220 were in Kilkenny.

As the Bill is currently drafted, properties which are advertised online for short-term rental would be obliged to obtain a valid registration number with Fáilte Ireland and have Short-Term-Rental planning permission to remain in business - if they operate without this they face a fine of up to €5000.

One organisation fighting this legislation is the Irish Self-Catering Federation (ISCF) which represents 6700 self-catering properties across Ireland. The ISCF has said that the Short-Term Letting and Tourism Bill, which was discussed by government in recent weeks “is flawed” and needs to be “redrafted.”

Máire Ní Mhurchú, ISCF Chief Executive, said that the Bill details are in need of “urgent consultation with rural and long-term property owners in order to ensure that they continue in business.”

One such business is Cottages for Couples in Skibbereen, owned by Peter and Anna Warburton, who offer short breaks to couples in their properties which include treehouses.

Mr Warburton explained why the bill is flawed. “Fáilte Ireland identified the 10731 properties suitable for long term rental by what is called ‘screen scraping’ from the major online travel agents such as Airbnb and Booking.com.

Crucially, they didn’t ask a single property owner if they would move to long term rental if they were prohibited from offering short term rental. The ISCF conducted a survey which found that 90% of respondents would NOT move to long term rental even if they were threatened with closure.

Also, just suppose a property owner uses their holiday home for 8 weeks of the year, say in the summer, at Christmas, Easter and Bank holidays, are they likely to turn this holiday home over to long term rental thus depriving themselves of holiday accommodation - and their town of much needed tourism revenue.

I don’t think so. Here in Skibbereen we bring over 5000 visitors to the town each year bringing in an estimated €2.25m to the town (Fáilte Ireland estimates). If we were forced to close the town would lose this important source of tourist revenue”. What’s more would our treehouses be suitable for long term rental, I don’t think so. This ‘one size fits all’ approach simply won’t work. This is where the legislation is flawed.

The impact of this proposed legislation is best demonstrated by reference to the Wild Atlantic Way. Stretching 2,500km, from Kinsale in Co Cork to the Inishowen Peninsula in Co Donegal, the aim of the Wild Atlantic Way is to create greater visibility for the west coast of Ireland in overseas tourist markets.

A report by Fáilte Ireland on the economic impact of the Wild Atlantic Way has found it is worth more than €3 billion per year in tourism revenue to communities along the western seaboard. Fáilte Ireland said it has led to the creation of an additional 35,000 jobs.

In conjunction with the Dept of Housing, Fáite Ireland has now identified 6585 properties along the Wild Atlantic Way currently offering short-term rentals that could be returned to the long-term rental sector which the ISCF claims would impose an annual loss of €256m to counties along it’s route (according to an economic survey by economist Jim Power).

A similar economic impact on tourism revenue will be felt in Kilkenny. Ms Ní Mhurchú acknowledged that the tourism sector, and in particular the rural tourism sector, needs to be regulated. “However, the sector needs to be listened to,” she stressed”.

“We don’t yet know the details of the Bill but planning implications need to be taken into account. The draft Bill as it stands needs to be looked at again in conjunction with people who make their living in the tourism industry from the short-term rental sector. We are not opposed to the Bill in principle, but we urge the government to listen to the stakeholders. Our members cannot be held somehow responsible for the lack of sufficient housing in Ireland. It is imperative that the legislation is proportionate and balanced.

"That can only be achieved by engagement with the sector, and we are calling on the government to ensure that happens. The ISCF believes it is unfair to penalise rural communities who have invested in creating tourism accommodation only to have it closed down due to ‘flawed legislation’.

"We are asking all people who have an Airbnb or operate a self-catering property to join ISCF which will help in lobbying for a fair deal for our sector, so we can simply remain in business. There is definitely strength in numbers”, Máire Ní Mhurchú concluded.

Visit www.iscf.ie for more details.