EU To Regulate Self-catering
The largest representative body for self-catering properties in Ireland says that the signing of the EU’s Regulation on short-term rental data collection and sharing will have positive, long-term consequences for the sector.
Once signed and after official publication in the Official Journal of the European Union, EU Member States will have a 24-month period to establish the mechanisms for data exchanges, which are already being prepared with the support of the Commission.
By setting a data collection and sharing framework for the EU Member States, the EU Regulation harmonises registration requirements for short-term lets when introduced by national authorities, clarifies rules to ensure registration numbers are displayed and checked on online booking platforms, and streamlines data sharing between online platforms and public authorities.
Máire Ní Mhurchú, chair of the Irish Self-Catering Federation, says the EU Regulation will quantify the amount of available self-catering in Ireland and will raise and maintain standards across the industry.
Ms. Ní Mhurchú, who has travelled to the European Parliament for the signing process, says the move will also strengthen the sustainability of the sector by highlighting the economic important role played by small, family-run businesses in rural communities.
She is warning, however, that the implementation of the STTL Register must be accompanied by the introduction of clear planning guidelines around the development of glamping and other self-catering businesses, the absence of which she says is exacerbating the ongoing critical shortage of available bed nights in Ireland.
"The Register, adapted to the standards of the EU Regulation, will help to support the further development of the self-catering sector, as making rural communities economically viable is core EU principle. For far too long in Ireland, hotel accommodation has been legislated for and promoted, which is of little benefit to rural communities as such developments are only regarded as economically viable for large urban centres as evidenced in the Saville and Crowe reports into the domestic tourism and hospitality market."
She continued: "We also welcome the appointment of Fáilte Ireland as the statutory authority with responsibility for implementing the Register."
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