Limerick Chamber releases Short-Term Letting Report, first in the “Better Regions Initiative” series

  • Unlocking the Airbnb market supply is unlikely a solution to the current housing supply crisis.
  • Short-term lets (STLs) worth potentially up to €2.9 million to the Co. Limerick economy.
  • The upcoming regulations on STL’s will impact 52 STLs in Limerick City, 150 for Co. Limerick.

The Short-term Lettings report, conducted by the Limerick Chamber Policy Team is the first in the ‘Better Regions Initiative’ series. This series will contain independent research to further support the Future Limerick report, commissioned by Limerick Chamber in July 2021.

VIEW THE SHORT-TERM LETTINGS REPORT NOW

This Short-term Lettings report looks at the availability of suitable housing on the popular website Airbnb. It found that there were 150 suitable homes for residential living listed on Airbnb between June 2022 and January 2023. Listings such as castles, cabins and lodges were removed as they would not be suited to the residential market.

Furthermore, the report also found that upcoming regulations in regard to the STL market will do little to quell the growing STL industry in Limerick, with only those located within RPZs being impacted. Co. Limerick’s RPZs are Limerick City West, East and North. 52 of the 150 homes suitable for residential living could potentially be impacted.

The current stock of STLs within Co. Limerick would likely have a minimal impact of the current housing supply, if it were theoretically moved to the housing market. The magnitude on the demand that currently exists heavily outweighs Co. Limerick’s current annual requirement for housing, which has seen house and rent prices rapidly rise over the last two years.

The analysis also found that it is more financially attractive to lease a STL over long-term rent. The analysis was carried out for a 90-day period, which found the average income obtained for owning an STL outweighed the income obtained from a long-term tenant. Three average rents for Limerick were used, the Limerick Chamber Rental Monitor, Daft and the RTB. All three showed the income for a STL to be more favourable.

The analysis also found the Airbnb market to be worth potentially up to €2.9 million to the Co. Limerick Economy, not taking into account the additional spend that would be generated by the visiting tourist booking these properties for the short-term.

We carried out this research to examine if changes in short-term letting regulations will have a large impact on housing supply, we also wanted to understand how much stock is within the short-term letting market in Limerick. This is the first in a series of research that the Limerick Chamber Policy team will look to publish off the back of the Future Limerick report. Housing is such a critical aspect for employers in the region. This report shows that within Co. Limerick, unlocking STLs isn’t a sustainable route to resolve this issue and would likely be a once off measure as we do not have the scale of short-term lettings like big cities such as Dublin and Edinburgh have. Housing needs to be delivered on a consistent basis via public and private sector investment to meet the high levels of demand that currently exist, both in Limerick and nationally.

says Limerick Chamber Chief Economist Seán Golden.

It was important to understand the real stock of homes suited for residential living to get a sense of if essential housing stock is being held up in the short-term let market. Based on the data collected for this report, it appears that the properties listed on Airbnb in areas of high housing demand, namely Limerick City & Environs, would have a minimal impact on housing supply if they were to theoretically be moved to the housing market. We observed just 52 homes under this criteria that might be impacted by upcoming regulatory changes and returned to market. As part of the report, we also found that zero ‘change of use’ planning applications had been submitted to the Local Authority since 2019, when the regulations were introduced, up to the end of 2022.

says Limerick Chamber Economist Diarmuid O’Shea.

VIEW THE SHORT-TERM LETTINGS REPORT NOW

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