State of Coliving in Ireland

How big is the Ireland coliving market?

Ireland is the only market in this hub defined by prohibition. A November 2020 de facto ban on new coliving developments makes it unique as a cautionary policy case study rather than a growth market. That single legislative act frames the entire Irish coliving story.

JLL European Co-Living Index 2019 predicted European sector growth from ~6,480 beds (2019) to 20,400 by end-2021. Ireland was projected to be a contributor to that growth trajectory, particularly through Dublin's acute housing crisis and its concentration of tech-sector employer demand.

Before the ban, 14 planning applications for shared accommodation (all Dublin, 2,100+ bedspaces) had been made. Six developments received permission: Ardee Road/Rathmines (102 units), New Row South (69), Rathmines House (110), St Mary's Place (121), Spencer Dock (200), and Eblana Avenue Dun Laoghaire (195). Of these, most either proceeded or are stalled in various states of construction after the November 2020 SPPR (Specific Planning Policy Requirement) revocation.

The 2018 Planning Guidelines under then-Housing Minister Eoghan Murphy allowed coliving developments with 12 sqm single rooms and 18 sqm doubles , notably smaller than typical residential minimums. These space standards were part of the political controversy: critics saw them as enabling low-quality high-density living and 'glorified tenement housing.'

Bartra Capital advertised its first Dun Laoghaire units at €1,880/month, nearly €800 above the planning estimate. That gap between promised affordability and actual advertised rates was one of the key political inputs into the ban. The perception that coliving was expensive rather than affordable made political defence of the format effectively impossible.

Post-ban, HMOs, PBSA (Purpose-Built Student Accommodation), and traditional flatshares remain the operational shared-living formats in Ireland. Coliving as a distinct planning category is frozen, though the debate on reversal continues.

Dublin remains one of Europe's most acute housing-crisis cities. Rents grew faster than wages 2015-2024. The tech-sector employer concentration (Meta, Google, Amazon, Salesforce, LinkedIn, Stripe, Intercom) generates sustained demand that coliving would naturally serve. That demand is currently absorbed by expensive traditional rentals, PBSA (during term time), and HMOs.

The Irish market's frozen status makes it globally instructive. No other developed-world coliving market has been legislatively halted; every other regulatory framework in this hub either permits, encourages, or lightly constrains coliving. Ireland's ban is the counterfactual that illuminates how NOT to regulate the format.

How is coliving regulated in Ireland?

November 2020: Housing Minister Darragh O'Brien issued a de facto ban , amended the 2018 Planning Guidelines with a Specific Planning Policy Requirement (SPPR) creating a 'presumption against granting planning permission for shared accommodation/co-living.'

Signed into law December 22, 2020. Applications already lodged could proceed (the 'back door'), which is why the six pre-ban permissions remain in various construction stages.

The 2018 guidelines (Eoghan Murphy) had allowed 12 sqm single rooms / 18 sqm doubles , the space standards that critics deemed too small.

Since December 2020, no new coliving-designated developments have received planning permission in Ireland. The SPPR remains in force.

HMOs (Houses in Multiple Occupation) remain legally permitted under standard Irish housing frameworks. What was banned was specifically 'shared accommodation/co-living' as a distinct planning category.

PBSA (Purpose-Built Student Accommodation) is legally permitted and represents the closest institutional shared-living format available in Ireland. Some PBSA operators have adapted to serve postgraduate and young-professional cohorts during term breaks.

The Residential Tenancies Act governs standard rental in Ireland, including HMO tenancies. Rent Pressure Zones (RPZs), covering most of Dublin, cap rent increases at ~2% per year.

Building Regulations Part B (Fire Safety) and Part K (Stairways, Ramps, Guards) apply to all multi-tenant residential developments in Ireland.

The Planning and Development Act 2000 (and its subsequent amendments) is the framework for planning permission decisions. Individual planning applications face significant local political scrutiny in Ireland, particularly in Dublin.

Reversal potential: political consensus on coliving has softened as the Dublin housing crisis has deepened. Multiple industry submissions to government (Property Industry Ireland, the Land Development Agency, and various developer groups) have advocated for reconsideration. As of mid-2026, no formal reversal has been announced.

Bord Pleanála (Ireland's planning appeals board) rulings historically shape how the ban is interpreted at the margin. Some coliving-adjacent permissions have proceeded under HMO or PBSA classifications rather than shared-accommodation.

Where can I find coliving data for Ireland?

• JLL , European Co-Living Index 2019

• Irish Times , Coliving ban coverage

• RTÉ , Coliving ban coverage

• TheJournal.ie , Coliving ban coverage

• Pinsent Masons , Regulatory analysis

• Irish Examiner , Coliving ban and Dublin housing coverage

• Business Post , Irish real estate coverage

What makes Ireland coliving distinctive?

The only market to ban coliving. Ireland is globally instructive precisely because it did what no other developed-world coliving jurisdiction has done: legislatively halt new supply through a Specific Planning Policy Requirement in November 2020. The politics that produced the ban are visible in the record. The 2018 Planning Guidelines allowed 12 sqm single rooms and 18 sqm doubles, which political opponents cast as sub-standard. Bartra Capital's first Dun Laoghaire property advertised at €1,880/month, roughly €800 above the planning-estimate rent, undermining the affordability framing operators had used to defend the format. The Taoiseach's phrase 'glorified tenement living' set the political tone. Six developments had received permission before the ban and proceeded through the 'back door' , Ardee Road/Rathmines, New Row South, Rathmines House, St Mary's Place, Spencer Dock, Eblana Ave , but no new coliving-designated schemes have been approved in Ireland since December 2020. The counterfactual now runs both ways. On one side: five years of frozen coliving supply while the Dublin housing crisis deepened, tech employer concentration grew, and the case for reversal strengthened. On the other side: continued political consensus that dense, small-room shared living is not the right answer to the housing crisis, and continued growth in PBSA and HMO formats as legally permitted alternatives. Whether Ireland reverses course , and if so, whether it does so on operator-friendly terms or with much tighter space standards, developer contribution requirements, and price controls , is one of the sector's open questions for the second half of the 2020s. Until then, Ireland is the market that illustrates what happens when coliving becomes a lightning rod for broader housing politics: the pipeline stops, the demand continues, and the sector waits for a political thaw.

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