On September 09, 2026, the European Commission proposed new rules, known as the Affordable Housing Act, that could make it easier for governments and local authorities to restrict Airbnb and other short-term rentals in areas experiencing serious housing pressure.
It comes amid concern across Europe that in some cities and popular tourist areas, homes that might otherwise be used by residents are increasingly being used as short-term holiday accommodation.
However, the proposal is not an EU-wide ban on Airbnb, and it does not automatically introduce new restrictions in Ireland.
Instead, the European Commission wants to create a clearer legal framework that national, regional and local authorities could use when deciding whether restrictions are justified in particular areas experiencing housing stress.
Main Highlights
Sources: Irish Times & RTE News
- The EU is not banning Airbnb or short-term rentals.
- Local or national authorities can identify and then decide to invention in areas that they consider to be under housing stress.
- Any restrictions would have to be evidence-based, necessary, targeted and proportionate.
- Short-term rentals are one area being considered, but vacant homes and second homes can also affect housing availability.
- Possible short-term rental measures discussed in media reports include; limits on the number of days properties can be rented to tourists or limits on the number of short-term rentals in certain locations.
- Occasional hosts renting their own homes are not necessarily the main target of these measures.
- The European Commission acknowledges that restricting existing properties alone cannot solve Europe’s housing shortage.
- The proposal must still go through the EU legislative process before becoming law.
1. Why Is the EU Looking at Airbnb & Short-Term Rentals?
Short-term accommodation has a lot of benefits. It provides tourists with more choice, can provide homeowners with additional income and supports tourism businesses and employment.
However, problems can develop when large numbers of ordinary homes in areas already experiencing housing shortages are converted into tourist accommodation.
- The European Commission says that some non-primary uses of housing can make affordability and availability a lot worse in areas that are already dealing with housing shortages. This can be particularly important in cities, islands and popular tourist destinations.
This does not mean that short-term rentals are the cause of the wider housing shortage. Instead, the concern is that they could make an existing shortage worse in certain locations.
2. Short-Term Rentals Are a Small Share of European Housing.
One of the most important points reported by The Irish Times concerns how short-term rentals are distributed. Across Europe as a whole, properties listed on the main short-term rental platforms represent a little more than 1% of housing stock.
Now you may think, ‘that’s pretty small’.
However, the main issue here is the concentration across Europe.
- According to figures examined by EU officials and reported by The Irish Times, short-term accommodation can make up as much as 20% of housing in some tourist neighbourhoods.
This difference helps to explain the EU’s proposed approach; that rather than applying a blanket restriction everywhere, authorities would first have to demonstrate that a particular area is experiencing housing stress.
What Restrictions Could Be Introduced?
I cannot say for certain, as the proposed EU framework does not provide a fixed list of restrictions that every country or city must introduce.
That is important because individual authorities would retain considerable responsibility for deciding whether action is required and what form that action should take.
However, examples discussed in The Irish Times include:
- possibly limiting how many days each year a property can operate as short-term tourist accommodation;
- limiting the number of short-term rentals permitted within a particular area;
- introducing measures to address properties that stay vacant for long periods;
- intorducing measures around 2nd homes or other non-primary residential uses in areas that are experiencing severe housing shortages.
These are just examples of measures being discussed, rather than new rules that have automatically been introduced throughout Ireland.
1. What About People Who Occasionally Rent Their Own Home?
According to what I’ve been able to gather thus far, someone renting their own home while travelling away for say, 2 weeks, is not really comparable with a commercial operator that manages several properties as year-round tourist accommodation.
- The Irish Times reports that the proposed restrictions are not aimed at people simply renting their own home for a couple of weeks each year.
Airbnb has also argued that regulations should distinguish between ordinary people occasionally sharing properties, and commercial operators.
How those distinctions would eventually operate depends on the final rules and how individual countries implement them.
2. Why Does This Matter for Ireland?
Compared to the rest of the EU, Ireland has an unusually tight rental market, so the number of homes being used for short-term accommodation has become part of the wider housing debate.
A research reported by RTÉ earlier in March 2026 shows why.
- Housing charity Threshold identified more than 8,600 second homes advertised for short-term letting, compared with approximately 2,100 properties advertised for long-term private rental at the time of its analysis.
Threshold deliberately excluded hosts with only one listing on the assumption that these could be people’s own homes.
These numbers should still be interpreted carefully, as they do not mean that 8,600 properties would automatically enter the long-term rental market if short-term letting were restricted.
However, they help explain why policymakers and housing organisations are interested in the issue.
3. Restrictions Would Not Actually Build More Homes
This is the sad part unfortunately.
Allow me to use an example. Suppose 500 existing properties currently being used exclusively for short-term tourism were returned to long-term rental use.
- Ireland would not suddenly have 500 additional buildings, as the physical housing stock would remain unchanged. However, there could be 500 more existing homes available for people seeking somewhere to live.
That means there are two different ways of thinking about housing supply:
- Building additional homes increases the total housing stock.
- Returning existing homes to residential use can increase the amount of that stock available to residents.
Both can matter, but they are not the same thing.
4. The EU Admits Restrictions Alone Will Not Solve the Problem
The EU’s Affordable Housing Act is therefore accompanied by recommendations that aim to cover wider housing supply. This includes making better use of land and existing buildings, simplifying planning and permitting processes, and increasing affordable and social housing.
- The proposal should not be interpreted as the EU saying that Airbnb restrictions are the solution to Europe’s housing problems.
Instead, short-term rentals are being treated as one part of a much larger housing issue.
Important Considerations and Assumptions to Avoid
When reading headlines about Airbnb restrictions and housing, there are several things worth keeping in mind:
- This is not an EU-wide Airbnb ban: Sorry for having to repeat this a 3rd time. The proposal only creates a framework under which authorities could introduce targeted measures where ‘housing stress’ can be demonstrated.
- An Airbnb listing does not automatically equal a home that could be rented long-term: So just because they could be restricted for short term lets, does not automatically mean they will be made available for longer-term lets.
- Ireland’s housing markets are not identical: Measures that are appropriate for Dublin may have very different effects in the Donegal Gaeltacht.
- Occasional hosts and large commercial renters are not necessarily the same: Future regulations may need to recognise the difference between both.
So What Happens Next?
Nothing in the proposal implies that Irish Airbnb hosts suddenly face a new EU restriction today. The Affordable Housing Act proposal will have to be considered by EU member states and the European Parliament before it can become law.
Even after that process, much would depend on decisions made by national and local authorities.
So for homeowners, landlords and short-term rental hosts in Ireland, the important development to watch will therefore be how Ireland responds to the eventual EU framework and where any future Irish restrictions might apply.
