Updated 31 October 2026
Good news first: in Ireland you can welcome paying guests into your own home. Renting out a spare room while you live there, or your whole home while you’re away on holiday, is allowed. You just need to let your local council know, and there’s no charge for that. Here’s how it works, in plain English.
This is a friendly summary of the official pages, linked below, not legal advice. Some rules change in December 2026, so it’s always worth a quick look at your council’s short-term letting page before your first guest.
First, which kind of host are you?
In the planning rules, a short-term let is a stay of less than 14 days at a time (rising to under 21 days under the planned changes). Stays of 15 days or more aren’t covered by these rules. (Citizens Information)
You rent a room in the home you live in
This is called home-sharing, and it’s allowed without planning permission. You register it with your council each year, using the free forms below.
You let your whole home while you’re away
Off travelling, at the in-laws for the summer, working abroad for a few weeks? You can let your whole home for up to 90 days a year while you’re temporarily away, and the days don’t have to be in a row. Again, you register it with your council. If you go past 90 days, that’s when planning permission comes in.
You have a second property
A home you don’t live in is different: letting it short-term needs planning permission for a change of use, unless it already has permission for tourism or short-term letting. Citizens Information notes that permission is unlikely in areas with high housing demand.
Registering with your council: three short forms
If you’re home-sharing, or letting your home while you’re away, you register with your local council to use the exemption. It’s free. There are three forms, all on your council’s website:
- Form 15, start of the year. Within 4 weeks of the start of each year, and at least 2 weeks before your first guest that year.
- Form 16, 90 days reached. Only if you’re letting your whole home while away and reach 90 days in the year; send it within 2 weeks.
- Form 17, end of the year. Between 1 and 28 January, for the year just gone.
You’ll also be asked for something that shows the property is your main home, such as a household bill. (Citizens Information, Dublin City Council, Galway City Council)
New from December 2026: the Fáilte Ireland register
A national short-term letting register opens on 1 December 2026, run by Fáilte Ireland. If you host stays of up to 21 nights, including a bedroom in your own home, you register by 31 December 2026. Here’s what to expect:
- You’ll get a registration number to show on Airbnb, Booking.com and anywhere else you advertise.
- You give your details and the property’s address and Eircode, and confirm it meets the planning, building and fire safety requirements.
- There’s a registration fee, and you renew each year.
(Citizens Information, Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment)
Planning changes on the way
The Government is finalising new planning rules to start alongside the register. The planned changes include the new 21-day definition, and a stricter approach to granting planning permission for short-term lets in cities and towns of over 20,000 people, with councils elsewhere looking at local housing need. If you’re letting your own home, keep registering as you do now and check your council’s page when the new rules begin. (Citizens Information)
Tax: declare the income
Income from short-term guests is declared to Revenue each year, on Form 12 through myAccount if you’re a PAYE taxpayer, or Form 11 through ROS if you’re self-employed or have other income. It’s treated as other income, or trading income if you run it as an ongoing business, not as rental income. (Citizens Information, Revenue)
A few friendly checks before your first guest
- Your home insurance: does it cover paying guests?
- If you have a mortgage, or rent your home, what your lender or landlord needs to know.
- In an apartment, the management company’s house rules.
- Any conditions in your home’s planning permission.
Then leave the cleaning to us
Once you’re set up, we take care of every changeover: the clean, fresh linen, guest supplies and a dated photo of every room in your owner app, so you can be on holiday while your guests are at home. We clean in Dublin now, priced in euro, and are opening in Galway next.
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