Dublin City Council ‘playing whack-a-mole’ as lockbox enforcement proves futile
Dublin City Council are "playing whack-a-mole" as their lockbox enforcement has proven futile.
People Before Profit Councillor Conor Reddy has called out the lack of enforcement around short-term letting lockboxes and has called for national legislation to address the impact of companies like Airbnb have on the housing crisis. In an effort to address the influx of short-term rentals in Dublin , nearly 200 lockboxes have been removed across the city over the past 10 months, yet they often reappear within days.
This figure comes from Cllr Reddy’s request for a report on the enforcement of the ban on lockboxes used by short term letting companies. While new regulations were introduced in April 2025 , the Chief Executive's reply states enforcement has proven to be “extremely difficult” as they don’t have “the means to identify the intended use” of the lockboxes spread throughout the city.
“The council admits it has no reliable way to link them to short-term lettings or measure the scale of the problem. Since 2019, just one planning application for change of use to short-term letting has been granted, while over 850 Form 15 notifications have been received. The gap between compliance and enforcement is staggering,” Cllr Reddy stated.
“We are effectively playing whack-a-mole with lockboxes while thousands of homes are being taken out of long-term use during a housing emergency. Dublin needs a properly resourced enforcement unit and urgent national legislation to stop whole homes being converted into de facto hotels. The provision of homes for the people who call this city home must come before the profits of Airbnb and STL owners.”
Lockboxes are often associated with short-term letting operators using platforms like Airbnb, as they provide guests with a contactless self-check-in option that’s available 24 hours a day. As an unauthorised use of public infrastructure, despite the ban, their presence remains particularly noticeable in public areas like Temple Bar.
Since the ban was introduced, a total of 195 lockboxes have been removed across Dublin city, with the Central Area having the most at 87. This was followed by 71 removals in the South East Area, 33 in South Central, four in North Central, and zero in the North West.
A statement from the Executive said that planning enforcement lacks the means to identify the intended use of each lockbox, as the presence of one in isolation “cannot be definitively linked to short-term letting activity.” As the boxes could be there for a legitimate purpose “there is no reliable method” for enforcement.
“At present, there is no practical solution other than to continue removing lockboxes as they appear. The ban relies on ongoing vigilance rather than a mechanism that prevents reinstallation. Some individuals have adopted creative or unconventional methods to prevent their lockboxes from being removed,” they said.
From lockboxes secured with heavy duty chinese to being attached to poles or bicycles, these methods “occasionally delay removal.” However, enforcement teams do remove them when identified.
Cllr Reddy previously spoke to Dublin Live about his call for a plan of action to help families who are facing record rents and homelessness. By addressing the prevalence of illegal short-term lettings around the city, he believes there are “hundreds if not thousands of properties that could be available for long-term rental to tenants in Dublin.”
Cllr Reddy said that any time he travels to a new location he looks into the city's rules regarding Airbnb and short-term rentals and it's clear that Ireland is somewhat of an “outlier” in Western Europe in terms of enforcement. Without a dedicated team to inspect properties, illegal short-term rentals are able to prosper.
One first step toward addressing this would be an enforcement action plan outlining existing planning and housing enforcement resources to increase identification. Cllr Reddy said that quarterly data on the number of inspections, warning letters, and enforcement proceedings undertaken should be published.
He also said the Department of Housing should fund a dedicated Short-Term Letting Enforcement Unit within Dublin City Council . “The council is hamstrung by the fact that it doesn't have a dedicated team of people that can go out and inspect whether or not places are in compliance with the planning rules,” Cllr Reddy explained.
Currently, anyone who wishes to rent their entire property on a site like Airbnb can do so for 90 days out of the year, but anything more than that they must apply for an exemption. Cllr Reddy said the council are understaffed when it comes to ensuring that these rules are followed.
While Cllr Reddy stressed that tourists are welcome to stay in Ireland, he said there needs to be a weigh up of priorities and that essential measures like this are put in place to regulate the housing market. He said it’s clear there’s a reluctance to push for measures like this as the government they don’t want “to be seen as anti-investor.”
“The councils aren’t funded and they want to do this. I’ve had conversations with various people and they recognise it as a problem but their hands are tied. They're not funded by central government to actually enforce the law,” he said.
Cllr Reddy has called for the introduction of a strict 21-day annual cap on short-term lettings. This would similar to other European cities like Amsterdam, Barcelona, and Berlin, where short-term letting is more tightly regulated to protect long-term housing supply.
Dublin City Council encourages the reporting of lockboxes to citycentreprojects@dublincity.ie.
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