New Galway walking tour to highlight city's 'worst black spots'
One major organisation is not going to be happy
The Community Action Tenants Union in Galway has announced a new walking tour that one major organisation will not be fond of.
CATU has launched its ‘Airbnb walking tour’ of the city which they hope will highlight to tourists and locals alike “the worst black spots” for Airbnb and short-term lets.
The organisation was founded in 2019 by a group of tenants who wanted to help highlight the housing crisis in Ireland by “sharing resources and skills” to empower those facing eviction, homelessness or accommodation scarcity.
The group will lead the tour on Wednesday July 22 as part of their ‘Homes Not Holiday Lets’ campaign.
CATU launched the campaign back in February of last year in the hope of enforcing proper legislation for short-term lets including capping the amount registered for tourism purposes.
Just last month, The Minister for Housing James Browne said he expected the Short-Term Letting Bill, which he brought before Cabinet, to be the “strongest legislation” on the issue in Europe.
This Bill would require all short-term lets registered with Fáilte Ireland and complying with EU regulations, including a unique registration number to be displayed on advertising platforms.
As part of the tour, CATU will speak to members about the impact these short-term lets have had on the Galway community.
The tour will be just under an hour starting at 8pm on Wednesday at the top of Eyre Square by the Liam Ó Maoilíosa statue.
In the last ten years, there has been an 80% increase in rent around Galway city with over 600 homes listed as short-term lets.
Galway city and county have almost ten times as many short-term lets available as long-term private rentals, according to a nationwide survey carried out by the national housing charity, Threshold, at the start of this year.