The Short-Term Letting Register: What Dublin Hosts Must Do

Ireland is introducing a national register for short-term lets, run by Fáilte Ireland under EU Regulation 2024/1028. Every host will need a registration number and will have to display it on every listing. For Dublin hosts, though, the registration is the straightforward part — it is the declaration that comes with it that will decide who carries on.

What the register requires

• Registration with Fáilte Ireland for any accommodation offered for stays of up to and including 21 nights. Each unit is registered separately.
• A unique registration number, displayed on every listing and advertisement.
• Annual renewal. A fee will apply; the amount has not yet been announced.
• Hotels, hostels and guesthouses are outside the scheme; individual hosts, companies and property owners are inside it.

When it actually starts

There are now dates. The Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment has confirmed that the National Short-Term Letting Register opens on 1 December 2026, and that every short-term letting operator carries a legal obligation to be registered by 31 December 2026. Once you are registered, your registration number has to appear on every listing and advertisement you run.

One caveat worth holding on to. The Short-Term Letting and Tourism Bill, which the register depends on, has not yet been published, never mind passed. Those dates are the Government’s stated intention rather than something already on the statute book, and this register has slipped before — it was originally due by 20 May 2026 and was pushed back more than six months. The registration fee still has not been set; it has been described as nominal, with the amount to follow.

So put December in the diary, but do the part now that will not change either way — establishing whether your property has the planning permission the declaration will ask you to confirm.

The definition is widening

A short-term let currently means a stay of less than 14 days. Under the new regime it becomes 21 nights or less.

That is a bigger change than it appears. Corporate and executive lets of two or three weeks — which sit outside the short-term letting rules today — come inside them. If you have been running a property on mid-length corporate stays on the basis that it is not a short-term let, that reasoning is about to stop working.

What you will hand over

For an individual: name, email, phone, PPSN, date of birth, country of residence, and address with eircode. For a company: business name, CRO number, business email, registered address and legal representative details. For each unit: whether it is a principal or secondary residence, the number of bed places and total guest capacity.

Platforms get obligations too

This is what gives the register teeth. Booking platforms will be required to display registration numbers on listings, verify the information hosts submit, carry out random checks, share standardised data monthly with a national digital entry point, and remove listings when Fáilte Ireland directs them to.

An unregistered property does not quietly continue. It comes off the platform.

The part that actually decides it

Registration requires a declaration that you comply with planning requirements. In towns and cities with a population above 20,000 — which includes all of Dublin — that compliance is required immediately, and permission for new short-term lets is not expected to be granted except in exceptional circumstances. Smaller areas get a longer runway.

Renting rooms in your own principal residence is exempt and unrestricted.

The difficulty is the second property. Letting a separate residential unit short-term in Dublin has required planning permission for some time, and permission has generally not been forthcoming in areas of high housing demand. A significant number of Dublin listings have been operating in that gap. The register closes it by asking the question directly, in writing, with your PPSN attached.

Your options if you are in that position

1. Apply for permission. Realistic in some circumstances, unlikely in most of Dublin. Worth professional advice before spending on it.
2. Move to lets above the threshold. Stays longer than 21 nights fall outside the short-term regime — a different business, aimed at relocations and contract workers, with different economics.
3. Move to long-term letting. Lower headline yield, no voids between guests, no cleaning cycle, no platform fees, and rent that is now capped in a Rent Pressure Zone — which is a real consideration, since the rent you set at the start is the rent you are largely stuck with.
4. Sell. Some will.

The one thing that is not an option is carrying on and hoping. The platform obligations mean non-compliance surfaces at the listing, not at an inspection.

Common questions

When does it start?

Not yet confirmed. It was pushed from May 2026 to around the end of December 2026, and it cannot open until the Short-Term Letting and Tourism Bill passes. We will update this page when the date is fixed.

Does it apply outside Dublin?

The register is nationwide. The planning restrictions bite hardest in areas above 20,000 population.

I rent a room in my own home. Am I affected?

Home-sharing in your principal residence is treated differently from letting a separate property, and is not caught by the planning restrictions in the same way. Whether registration itself is required will be settled by the legislation — check Fáilte Ireland’s guidance once the register opens.

What if I do not register?

Owners and advertising platforms both face penalties where a property is advertised without a valid registration number, and platforms can be directed to remove the listing.

Is long-term letting actually worth less?

Less per night, more per year in many cases once voids, cleaning, laundry, platform commission and management are counted against it. It is worth running your own numbers rather than assuming.

Weighing up what to do with a short-let property?

We manage both short and long-term lets across Dublin, so we can tell you what the same property would realistically earn either way — including the costs that do not show up in a nightly rate. Talk to us about your options.

General information, current at the date above. Not legal or planning advice — take advice on your own property before making a decision.