Ireland's 67,000 empty holiday homes: Find out how many are in your area
Tomas Doherty
Are holiday home owners contributing to Ireland's housing crisis?
That was the question raised this week when a senior official in Co Mayo called for a “boycott” of people who own second homes.
Tom Gilligan, Mayo County Council's director of services for housing, initially called for a community-led initiative targeting people who own holiday homes, describing it as "demanding ability" from property owners.
"It is about trying to get these underutilised, vacant, empty homes back into use," he told RTÉ's Morning Ireland on Wednesday, invoking the historical connection between Mayo and Captain Boycott, whom he characterised as an absentee landlord.
However, Mr Gilligan later apologised for "any concern or distress" caused by his proposal.
In a statement released by the council on Thursday, he said he was "deeply committed to addressing the complex housing challenges facing Mayo and to working collaboratively with councillors, stakeholders, and the community in doing so".
Despite the controversy, Mr Gilligan's comments succeeded in highlighting a growing concern backed by concrete data.
The 2022 Census revealed a striking trend: holiday homes in the Republic increased by almost 8 per cent between 2016 and 2022, reaching nearly 67,000 properties nationwide. This growth occurred against the backdrop of the State's well-documented housing shortage.
The Central Statistics Office defines these "holiday homes" as dwellings that remain unoccupied during the census but are used periodically, typically during summer months. Crucially, they are not classified as vacant homes, meaning they sit outside any policy interventions targeting empty properties.
Coastal counties like Kerry, Donegal, Cork and Galway have the highest concentrations of holiday homes.
In some areas, the numbers are staggering: holiday homes comprise 65 per cent of all housing stock in places like Kilkee in Co Clare and Derrynane in Co Kerry.
The statistics present these communities with a fundamental challenge: balancing their tourism-driven economy against local housing needs.
In the UK, the authorities have decided to tackle the issue through taxation – house prices plunged in some parts of Wales after the introduction of a 150 per cent council tax on second homes.
Scotland has implemented supplement taxes on second home purchases, making it more expensive to acquire holiday properties.
The rise of short-term rental platforms like Airbnb has also blurred the lines between holiday accommodation and permanent housing stock.
Interestingly, recent research suggests that these platforms may not be the primary driver of rental shortages that many assume them to be.
A study published last month by the Economic and Social Research Institute found no correlation between increases in Airbnb activity and declining new tenancies between 2019 and 2023.
“This does not mean that Airbnb activity has not had a detrimental impact on the private rental sector (PRS) in specific local markets, but it does not appear to be the root cause of the observed falls in available PRS accommodation nationwide,” the report said.
Instead, they identified reduced market turnover as a key factor, with many tenants choosing to stay put rather than face higher rents elsewhere or because homeownership remains out of reach.
The Government has acknowledged these concerns and plans to introduce a of short-term letting properties by summer 2026.
This system would require landlords to obtain change-of-use planning permission before listing entire houses and apartments on platforms like Airbnb, particularly in designated rent pressure zones.
Officials estimate this could redirect 12,000 properties from the tourism market back into long-term rental accommodation.
Whether this measure, combined with other housing initiatives, will meaningfully address the complex housing crisis remains to be seen.
