Short-term letters in Wexford operating without planning for 20 years fear new regulations will put them ‘out of business’
Wexford PeopleProperty owners who have been letting out apartments and houses in Co Wexford for 20 years without planning permission fear they may go out of business in the coming months. In an effort to rebalance housing stock across the county, the government has introduced new requirements for those letting out properties on a short-term basis.
The first step for all those letting out properties for periods of up to 21 nights at a time is to register with Failté Ireland by May 20 of this year.
However, as part of the registration process, providers will also need to confirm that they are planning compliant. This means that they either have planning permission or are exempt from planning requirements.
And, according to New Ross councillor Pat Barden, this will create problems for many of those operating short-term lets in his area.
“There’s a huge amount of people operating short-term lets in country areas who are servicing the tourism industry,” he said at the March meeting of Wexford County Council (WCC). “A lot of them built these premises without planning and have been renting them out for 20 years.
"If they are asked to comply with planning regulations they could be left with huge bills. They are very worried and don’t know where they stand right now.”
Explaning the role WCC played in the process, chief executive Eddie Taaffe said planning permission was “not required for short-term lets in any location where a house or an apartment is a person’s principle, primary residence and is used for short-term letting for a cumulative period of up to 90 days where the host is not present”.
Planning permission from the local authority is required in instances where “a house/apartment which is a principle, private residence is used for short-term letting for a cumulative period of more than 90 days per annum – whether the host is present or not”.
In addition, as per the new regulations, properties in towns with a population of 20,000 or less will have two years to comply with the local authority’s planning regulations.
Complying with those regulations will come at a cost, though, said Cllr Barden.
“Will you want them to put in a sewage treatment system or a septic tank?” he asked. “That will cost them huge money and put them out of business. The letting is only going to be used during the summer months so they won’t be overloading that system.”
“We will take that into account,” replied Mr Taaffe. “However, these people are legally obliged to follow planning regulations and not cause pollution.”