Company refused permission to retain 10 Dublin apartments for short term rental

DCM Editorial Summary: This story has been independently rewritten and summarised for DCM readers to highlight key developments relevant to the region. Original reporting by Irish Times, click this post to read the original article.

The owner of 10 apartments available on the Airbnb and booking.com platforms near Dublin Castle has failed in its bid to secure planning retention to allow the apartments to continue to be available for short-term letting.

An Coimisiún Pleanála (ACP) refused planning retention to Olympia Real Estate Ltd to allow the Dublin Castle Suites apartments to be available for short-term letting at 1-3 Parliament Street, Dublin 2.

In its decision, the planning commission found that the use of the apartments for short-term accommodation is contrary to the Dublin City Development Plan where there is a general presumption against the provision of that type of tourist rental accommodation.

This is due to its impact on the availability of housing stock and where it has not been satisfactorily demonstrated that the subject floor space could not otherwise facilitate longer term residential use, ACP said.

ACP also refused planning permission as it would contravene city council housing strategy that aims to encourage sustainable residential communities containing a wide variety of housing and apartment types.

Upholding a refusal by Dublin City Council, the commission added that granting of permission for retention would set a precedent for similar type of development and would be contrary to the proper planning and sustainable development of the area.

An “important notice” on the website for dublincastlesuites.ie states that all reservations are now for a minimum of 15 nights.

Despite Olympia Real Estate moving to restrict on the rental use of apartments for shorter stays, the minimum 15 night stay still falls within the definition of short term letting under Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment rules. Under those regulations, a short term letting is up to 21 nights at a time.

Through the Airbnb platform, a 16 night stay at a Dublin Castle Suite apartment for two adults in March currently costs €1,898.

The most recently filed accounts for property management and investment firm, Olympia Real Estate show that it owned investment properties with a book value of €10.08 million at the end of 2024 and owed credit institutions €7 million and group undertakings an additional €3.24 million.

The company recorded a modest post tax profit of €10,348 for 2024 after incurring interest charges of €642,703 for the year.

In her 31 page report, ACP Inspector in the case, Patricia Byrne, stated that the permanent loss of long-term accommodation in the form of 10 apartments in favour of short-term occupancy accommodation would have a detrimental impact on the availability of housing stock in the city centre.