If you let a property in Ireland for stays of 21 nights or less, you have to register it with Fáilte Ireland by 31 December 2026.
Registration itself takes about five minutes. That isn’t the part to worry about. This page sets out every date in the order you need to act on it.
First, clear up the date confusion
You will see two dates online. 20 May 2026 is when the EU Short-Term Rental Regulation became applicable across the EU. It is not an Irish host deadline. Several articles have this wrong.
The dates that apply to you are:
1 December 2026, the Fáilte Ireland register opens
31 December 2026, every host must be registered and every listing must display a valid number
One caveat worth knowing: the Short Term Letting and Tourism Bill 2025 has passed general scheme stage, but it’s not yet enacted. Fáilte Ireland’s own guidance says the register commences once the legislation passes. The dates above are the Government’s stated plan. I’ll update this page if they move.
Does the register apply to you?
You must register if you offer accommodation for 21 nights or less at a time. That covers rooms in your own home, entire houses and apartments, cabins, glamping pods and similar. It applies nationwide, regardless of location.
You do not register if you run a hotel, guesthouse, hostel, B&B with daily servicing, or a campsite or caravan park. Different rules cover those.
If you let for longer than 21 nights at a time, such as student lettings by semester or long-term tenancies, you’re outside this entirely.
A planning exemption is not a registration exemption
This is the misunderstanding I expect to be most common. It’s worth stating plainly.
Being exempt from planning permission does not exempt you from the register. They are two separate systems, run by two different bodies, for two different purposes.
If you let for 21 nights or less at a time, you register. It doesn’t matter that you only do a few weekends a year, that you stay under 90 days, that you’re only letting one room, or that your council has already confirmed your planning exemption. Fáilte Ireland’s guidance is explicit on this: occasional and room-only hosts are included, and the requirement applies nationwide, regardless of location.
Before anything else: know your planning position
When you register you make a legal declaration that the unit complies with planning, building control and fire safety requirements. You can’t make that declaration honestly without knowing where you stand.
Start working this out now. Note the wording though: establish your status, which is private and reversible. That is not the same as applying for permission. Applying is public, permanent, and in most cases something you should not rush into while the rules are still in draft. The distinction splits sharply, depending on what you’re letting and where it is. It has its own guide: do I need planning permission for my Airbnb in Ireland?
The short version:
A room in your own home while you live there. Exempt, unrestricted, no night limit.
Your whole home while you’re temporarily away. Exempt up to 90 cumulative nights a year.
A second property or dedicated let. Permission required from the first night, and how likely you are to get it depends on whether your town is above or below 20,000 people.
If you fall in that third group, read the planning guide before you do anything else. In particular, establishing your status and applying for permission are different things. The timing matters.
October and November: assemble your details
Nothing to submit yet. This is just gathering, so 1 December isn’t a scramble.
For you as host: full name, email, phone number, PPSN, date of birth, country of residence, and your own address including Eircode. Registering through a company instead? You’ll need the business name, company registration number, business email, registered address and a named legal representative.
For each unit: full address including Eircode, the unit type (part or whole property, primary or secondary residence), the number of bed places (single sleeping spaces, not beds), and the maximum guests it can hold.
Two things that catch people out:
Your agent cannot do this for you. Unless the unit is registered to a company, the host must complete registration personally. The declaration is a legal one, made in your name.
It’s per unit, not per host. Four properties means four registrations and four numbers.
No supporting documents are uploaded, though Fáilte Ireland may follow up afterwards for clarification.
1 December: register
The online portal opens. You sign up with an email address, enter your details, make the legal declaration and pay the fee. Your registration number is issued immediately. Applications can be saved and finished later.
On the fee: registration is not free. A nominal annual fee applies. You pay it when you first register, and again at every renewal, and payment is required to complete the process. The amount still hasn’t been announced. Both the Department of Enterprise and Fáilte Ireland say details are coming shortly. Fáilte Ireland has committed to keeping it to a minimum.
So far, nobody has mentioned a multi-unit discount. Since registration is per unit, a four-property owner should budget for four fees, every year.
By 31 December: number on every listing
This is the hard stop.
You must display your registration number on every listing: Airbnb, Booking.com, Vrbo, your own direct booking site. From this date platforms are legally required to display it, to take reasonable steps to verify accuracy, and to run random checks on listings.
If Fáilte Ireland finds a missing or invalid number, it can order the platform to suspend, remove or disable your listing. Platforms face their own penalties for non-compliance. That’s why they will enforce this, rather than absorb the risk on your behalf. Registered units also appear on a public register.
1 to 28 January 2027: the one most people will miss
Registering with Fáilte Ireland does not replace your obligations to your local council. The 2019 regulations remain in force until the new regime commences. They run on a separate set of forms that have nothing to do with the national register.
You may be a homesharer: someone who lets a room in their own home while living there, or lets the whole home while temporarily away. If so, you claim a planning exemption from your council. Claiming it means filing:
Form 15, start of year notification. Within 4 weeks of the year starting, and no later than 2 weeks before your first let of that year.
Form 16, 90-day threshold notification. Only if you let your whole home while away and reach 90 nights. Within 2 weeks of hitting it.
Form 17, end of year notification. Between 1 and 28 January the following year.
You also submit proof the property is your principal private residence. There’s no charge for any of this, unlike the Fáilte Ireland registration.
If you let a second property or a dedicated short-term let, none of these apply to you. There is no form that exempts you, only planning permission.
New register, old paperwork. Both apply during the transition. The council forms are the ones people forget.
Every year after: renew
Registration renews annually, and the number expires if you don’t. Reminders go out beforehand. But if it lapses, the unit comes off the register and the number becomes invalid. That means your listings come down.
What to do this month
Everyone: establish your planning position. Privately, on paper, without filing anything. You need to know what you’re declaring in December. Start here.
Second home or dedicated let in a town over 20,000: this is urgent, because you must confirm compliance at registration with no lead-in period.
Second home or dedicated let in a town of 20,000 or under, or rural: establish your status, then hold. You have roughly two years, and there are good reasons not to rush an application.
Homesharers: nothing to fix. Register in December, and file Form 15 and Form 17 with your council as usual.
If you’d like a second pair of eyes on where your listing stands, and what the new rules are likely to do to your occupancy and rates in 2027, send me the listing URL. I’ll come back to you with a free review.
Related guides
Based on guidance published by the Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment, Fáilte Ireland and Citizens Information. This is general information, not legal or planning advice. For questions about your specific property, contact your local authority.
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