Tourist licence number

Have a look at this Tourist rental licence required
There are various other posts on here, especially a detailed explanation here from davebev1 who have given a 6 part information post. Search Tourist Licence in Everywhere.

Something that is catching a few people out is the minimum 4.5 m2 for every bathroom, including en-suites. Some people who have applied, having rented out without declaring the income prior to this are apparently being fined.

I can’t believe the rules about the size of bathrooms, this wasn’t evident when I bought my place, it seems since March things have all changed again, I bought mine with the idea of holiday rentals in mind. Now it seems I won’t be able to do this. Absolutely gutted, it’s such a waste just to have it sitting there and only being used a few times a year, plus all the ongoing bills like water, electric, bank charges, non residents tax etc, really wished this had been more clear back then, I don’t know the exact size of my shower room but I know it’s not big and was just about to put a ‘ little ‘ en suit on to the bedroom, , most upsetting.

Hello Karol, yes, it´s a shame, but the hotel industry have a strong voice here and I can imagine they were losing a lot of trade due to unregulated holiday home rentals. There were also a lot of people who were renting cash in hand and it really wasn´t fair for the legal community to keep paying taxes towards facilities which untaxed guests were using with impunity. Hopefully there will be fewer stories in the press about beds crowded on balconies and suchlike and it is only fair that there is a level playing field, but saying that, I think 4.5 m2 for a bathroom is a bit excessive and I really can´t see why, if a bathroom is considered big enough for a family to live in permanently, it isn´t big enough for a week´s holiday, and a lot of apartments will fall foul of this rule. I can also see it affecting property sales, because you only have to watch shows like A Home in the Sun a few times to realise just how much this has been a factor in home sales. We can only hope that once things settle down, the authorities may make adjustments. Summer 2019 should be an indicator to how things are going because tourist numbers are already dropping and this is not going to help. The authorities are already struggling to keep up with all the applications and this will only worsen as word gets round.

Thanks Cheryl, I have a 1 bedroom bungalow and there are a few other properties near me that have a license, and my hubby just looked up these rules and reckons that we might just be okay shower room wise. I sold my place in Turkey last year and had always rented out , I actually enjoyed doing that and am still friends with lots of my guests. Did not expect to make  any money as such just a bit of help towards annual bills. So we will see, as I said seems silly just to leave it empty .

I totally agree that the rules re minimum room sizes are excessive but rules are rules and the indigenous hotel industry is an increasingly powerful lobby who have exerted influence on the authorities to tighten up on what is seen as unfair competition. The result is a very punishing regime that requires these room sizes and an increasingly vigorous appetite to apply the law in its strictest sense, with heavy heavy fines for unlicenced tourist lets. I totally agree that the regulations around this area are politely ignored when estate agents are trying to sell properties knowing that they won't qualify for a tourist licence. I fear that a lot of people may get their fingers burned. The more this is publicised the better! 

ColinL, totally agree these facts really should be published more. Especially for the people that are getting a mortgage or loan to buy a holiday property, luckily that’s not my situation, I had ( or so I thought) had read up on holiday rentals ie license etc before I bought, but a few more rules have come into play now ie bathroom size . I just didn’t want it sitting there empty for most of the year. Hopefully my family will make use of it as well, but if I knew all of this before hand I don’t think I would have bought here.

It's definitely a time bomb waiting to go off. I bought a place last year for holidays and was so impressed that I decided to buy a small investment property as a tourist let - no one mentioned the requirements for getting a tourist licence and when I raised the subject I was told by a lot of agents that it was all a lot of hype about nothing. I've since found out that some people are being refused licences on properties that would never have met the regulations - what a horrible situation for people who bought hoping to let out to tourists. A lot of properties still being advertised as suitable for tourist lets that will never get licences. Buyer beware!!!! 

Thanks Colin,

I have read everyone’s replies and I have to say I am now becoming concerned.

Louise

Maybe ask your solicitor ? But to be honest mine just said it’s fine etc, and they could get the license for me ( at a cost of 250€ ) then I found out to actually pick up the license it’s free, but can take up to 3 months . Surly there is somewhere that just deals with this and knows the law completely without extortionate fees ? Anyone ? As this situation for a lot of people will be devastating surly if they are even half relaying on some sort of income .