Kevin Humphreys (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I, too, thank the committee for the work it has done. This is a very important matter which many Members have raised several times. That is why I was so anxious for it to be debated, as many people had put much hard work into it. I want to get away from the use of Airbnb because we are talking about short-term lettings. If anybody were to google it, he or she would very quickly find approximately 15 companies in Dublin operating in the short-term letting market, including Booking.com, Dublin Short Lets, Dublin City Apartments, Dublin at Home, Dial-a-Short-Let, Housetrip.com, thekeycollection.ie, Homestay, etc. The previous Senator used the 5,377 listings figure, but the number is far greater than that for Airbnb.

When I walked out my front hall door this morning, there were six people standing on the street, waiting for their keys to get into various houses. The six houses would normally have been for working people in the long-term letting market, but they have now been moved to Airbnb. I am sure that when I return home this evening, there will be somebody pulling a suitcase up the road and using his or her phone to find a certain street with the Airbnb rental property. I am not referring to people letting a room but the whole house. I am talking about two up and two down traditional working class housing in Dublin 2 or Dublin 4. This morning I was in Portobello speaking to people about ensuring they were on the register in time for the referendum to repeal the eighth amendment of the Constitution. I followed a car around the area and when the boot was opened, out came the towels and shampoo; the person was servicing a small terraced house as an Airbnb let. When I asked the driver what he was doing, he told me that it was his full-time job. He travels around the city centre turning over houses previously in the long-term letting market. A local woman pointed out that what would have traditionally been civil servant accommodation - a house with six apartments - was now a Airbnb rental property with a constant turnover. Why would one not do this when one sees the figures? On the south side of the city one could make up to €160,000 per year on a two-bedroom Airbnb rental property with a 75% occupancy rate. One could make up to €150,000 on the north side. I will not reference the north-south divide, but these units are lost to families.

Senator Lynn Ruane mentioned the idea of tourists in homes and families in hotel rooms. That is common in the city. We have received report after report and do not need an in-depth investigation. There are multiple signs across all sites. At Spencer Dock a three-bedroom unit will make €94,900 per year with Airbnb. It would have been built for a family or working people within the city. That is for what planning permission was granted. We cannot keep turning a blind eye to this. Another example is an affordable city flat in Dublin 4, with a rental figure of €1,050. Total rent every year is €54,000. The list could go on and I found those after only a couple of minutes on the Internet.

There are indications that several private companies are advertising for Airbnb rental properties that they will fully maintain. They will change the bed clothes and shampoo in properties across the city centre. A gentleman who lives on the north docks spoke to me this morning. He had bought an apartment which he wanted to make his family home. There are 640 apartments in the development. Last summer he took time out to investigate how many of them were in the short-term letting market full time. There were 300. We have a problem and must take our heads out of the sand to deal with it.

People ring me constantly to tell me their communities have been hollowed out, with homes beside them now being party homes. Last week a young woman in the city centre rang me to tell me that she would have to put her apartment up for let as the two two-bedroom apartments above her were constantly being let. Last bank holiday weekend she had to call the management company which contacted the landlord who then called An Garda Síochána.This was after several incidents. The landlord said he had no idea what was happening; he just let the property on Airbnb. I accept there are 16 other platforms.

Nearly 50 people in the two apartments above her had been partying for the weekend. She needed to work to pay her mortgage. How can she do that with a party of 50 people making noise over a bank holiday weekend? In fairness to the gardaí, they wanted to do something but needed the public order unit to deal with the issue because there were too many people for a single garda to manage. The landlord walked away and said he could not manage the situation.

I am hearing such complaints on an almost daily basis from Stoneybatter to Ringsend and Pearse Street to Phibsborough. Communities are being hollowed out by short-term letting. Families bought homes only to find that their streets are being turned into hotels. Those who bought apartments see hotel-style trolleys in corridors, and sheets, towels and shampoos being changed as would happen in a hotel. People who have to go to work every day to pay their mortgages have invested their lives in these homes.

This does not include those across the city who are homeless and could rent homes, and workers who want to rent apartments but are competing with rents of €160,000 per year for a two-bedroom apartment. How can they compete with that? That is not covered by our planning specifications.

The Minister said we may be able to do something about apartments, but we have no mechanisms for houses. I have seen good, solid inner city communities turned into holiday lands. That is not what they are meant for. They could house families.

We all want a quick fix for the housing crisis. If there was action on this issue we could provide 2,500 units for the long-term letting market. I have met landlords who told me they have four or five houses in Stoneybatter and that is their business. I have been asked how I dare to interfere with their rights. I explained that they are family homes and that the area is zoned as a residential area for families rather than holiday lets. They told me they let the houses on a long-term basis, but can make 100% more in short-term letting.

We cannot wait for more reports. I have raised this issue with the Minister of State, Deputy English, the Minister of State, Deputy Phelan, and the Minister, Deputy Murphy. When the Minister, Deputy Murphy, was in the House on 28 September he talked to me about a licensing procedure. I read his contribution to the debate. He said:

A licensing system is probably the best way to go. There is a group working on this. It will be led by the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport.

That Department has skin in the game on this issue. It is interested in tourism numbers and bringing more tourists into the city, and fair dues to it. I am interested in families getting into homes and solid working class communities across the city which have been hollowed out. To allow the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport to lead on a licensing issue such as this is unacceptable.

I have a Bill on the Order Paper for the regulation and registration of short-term lettings. I am quite happy to withdraw it and offer it as a Government Bill. Let us move forward. I have heard about studies from the Minister, Deputy Coveney, and the Minister, Deputy Murphy, yet every day families are competing against short-term lets.

I have spoken to auctioneers across the city who have told me people are looking for two-up, two-down houses for short-term lets. Such houses are where working people traditionally lived, but they are now been turned into holiday lets. I am angry. This is a new model of housing in the city. We turned a blind eye to it over the past two years.

It is insulting to talk about a memorandum of understanding with Airbnb when it has not stuck to one memorandum of understanding across the continent. Each city had to introduce legislation and regulation, and we will be no different. The sooner we do so the better. If we are really serious about this housing crisis, we can turf tourists back to hotels and put families back into homes. It is up to the Minister to do something about it.