Galway short-term lets outnumber rentals nearly ten to one as housing crisis deepens
Recent data from housing advocacy group Threshold shows that for every private rental available in Galway, there are nearly 10 short-term lets.
Data from Inside Airbnb, compiled in September 2025, recorded 1,105 active listings across Galway city and county. In comparison, property website Daft.ie showed just 116 homes available to rent in March 2026.
Nationally, there are about 8,600 short-term rentals available across Ireland, compared with nearly 2,100 homes listed for long-term rent.
The Airbnb figures exclude hosts with only one listing in order to filter out people advertising rooms in the homes they live in. Threshold described the resulting figures as “conservative”.
If single-listing hosts were included, the total number of Airbnb listings in Galway would exceed 20,000 according to Threshold.
Galway County Council told the Irish Independent that there were no applications seeking permission to change the use of a property to short-term letting in 2025. However, two applications submitted in 2026 are awaiting decision.
Meanwhile, Galway City Council reported five applications were submitted to the local authority in 2025.
Of those five applications, two were deemed invalid, and one was given conditional approval. There have been no applications yet submitted in 2026.
New short-term letting legislation came through in April 2025 which required registering a listing on a nationwide platform. In return, the let will receive a special reference number that must be displayed on any marketing of the home.
Within six months of the implementation of the legislation, Galway City Council reported 70 written warning letters produced to illegal short term lets in the city.
Gathering evidence to prove illegality of short-term lets is difficult as direct addresses are disclosed only after booking.