Homeless crisis means that every house in Leitrim needs 'to be made available' - local councillor

There were no investigations into the illegal short-term lets in Leitrim, it was reported this week with Cllr James Gilmartin saying that with a homeless crisis ongoing, the situation needs to be dealt with urgently.

He told the Leitrim Observer: "It is a bit concerning. The report was done over three years so Sligo had 14 and Donegal had 18 so around five or six a year; it's not massive numbers but at the same time, when there is a housing crisis going on, it's really important that all houses that should be available are available. You shouldn't have an illegal Airbnb. If something was given planning for a particular reason, than that's what it should be used for. I've no issue with people having short-term lets if that's the road they want to go down but they need to bring it through the proper channels."

He added: "While it may not seem like a lot of properties, if you had ten extra houses in the whole of Leitrim, that would solve many people's problems by bringing those houses into the rental market. I want to stress that it's not about not letting people into using their properties however they see fit just as long as they are playing by the rules. If you are leasing a property, it should go through the proper channels and regulations because you can have health and safety issues as well because you have to have a certain standard in these houses and certain requirements."

READ MORE: Iarnród Éireann to be asked for timeline on long-sought works at Leitrim train station

Over the past five years, property owners within a Rent Pressure Zone (RPZ) have had to secure planning permission to provide short-term or holiday letting.

1,600 investigations were opened, with only 50 applications to seek permission having been made this year.

He added: "A revenue stream is lost out on by people not paying their tax and it's doubly having a negative effect on those doing the thing rightly because they're having to charge less if they want to compete with these people or more."

 In the majority of cases, property owners have received enforcement notices threatening legal action if they did not comply.

Cllr Gilmartin commented: "They got letters where they were cautioned but it should be escalated if they are repeat offenders."