Private rentals are outnumbered nearly 10 to 1 by short term lets in Galway according to national housing charity Threshold.
Threshold has released a new analysis which highlights the scale of homes being diverted into the short-term letting market during Ireland’s worsening housing emergency.
This analysis shows there are now over 8,600 second homes advertised for short-term let across Ireland, compared to 2,100 homes available nationwide in the private rental market.
In Galway, the ratio of short-term lets to private rental homes is 9.5:1, with 1,105 short-term lets on the market compared to just 116 private rental homes.
This is the sixth most skewed ratio nationwide, and considerably worse than the national average of 4.1:1.
For this, Threshold has analysed data from Inside Airbnb – which collects and collates figures from around the world from the popular lettings and homestays website.
This shows that there are over 8,600 full properties on the popular short stay website, let by a host with more than one advertised property.
This compares to recent figures by Daft.ie for March 2026, which show that there are fewer than 2,100 homes advertised to privately rent nationwide.
Kerry has the highest ratio, with 1,009 short-term lets compared to just 33 homes advertised for private rent (30.6:1). Clare follows with 532 short-term lets and 19 rental listings (28:1). Donegal has 662 short-term lets versus 27 homes to rent (24.5:1).
The analysed short-term let figures are conservative as they exclude hosts with only one listing, on the assumption that the listing could be the host’s own home.
Threshold also excluded properties not suitable for long-term renting from the analysis, including cabins, chalets, tiny homes, barns, campervans and yurts.
Including hosts with only one listing, the Inside Airbnb data shows that the total number of entire homes or apartments available as short-term holiday lets in Ireland is 20,039.
Threshold CEO John-Mark McCafferty said: “Housing is a national emergency, and in an emergency we must use every policy lever available to increase supply.”
“This means protecting existing homes, so they are available to rent long-term for families and people who need somewhere secure to live.
“Our analysis shows that nationally there are over four short-term lets for every one home available to rent. In several counties, the imbalance is far more extreme.”
“These are communities at risk of being hollowed out, where homes sit empty or underused for parts of the year while workers and families cannot find anywhere to live.”
“Threshold welcomes the forthcoming register of short-term lets, but this alone is not enough. We look forward to working with the Government on strengthening enforcement of short-term lets regulation to ensure communities thrive and families can find long-term homes.”
Threshold says the figures underline that housing supply is not only about building new homes, but also about protecting existing homes for long-term use, particularly during a worsening homelessness and affordability crisis.
From 20 May 2026, all short-term lets must be registered with Fáilte Ireland to comply with EU regulations, including a unique registration number to be displayed on advertising platforms.
Threshold welcomes steps that improve transparency but warns that registration alone will not return homes to long-term use unless it is backed by enforcement, including planning requirements.
It is an existing requirement that all short-term rentals have appropriate planning permission before operation. The Government is to publish the National Planning Statement, which will contain guidance for local authorities when assessing such applications.
The charity has repeatedly highlighted that change-of-use planning permission is an existing requirement to convert a residential home into a short-term tourist let, yet compliance appears extremely low in practice.
Between 2019 and May 2025, local authorities received just 426 planning applications for change-of-use, amounting to approximately 1.3% of short-term lets available at that time – suggesting almost all short-term lets, where the entire house is let, are non-compliant.
