Thorny issue of Airbnb is killing Mayo town

The thorny issue of housing remains the defining concern of our time.

Here in Mayo, the most derelict county in Ireland, the latest vacancy numbers reveal a worrying trend.

On paper, things look slightly better.

Back in quarter 2 of 2021, Geodirectory reported 7,848 vacant homes in Mayo.

By mid-2025, that figure had fallen to 7,452. A decline, yes, but in the middle of a housing crisis, that still means over seven thousand idle homes. Once again, Mayo is full. Full of empty houses. A scandal in plain sight.

Dig deeper into the figures and the story shifts. Compare vacancy rates by postal town and you can see exactly where Councillor Peter Flynn’s concerns about Airbnb in Westport are coming from.

Remarkably, while most Mayo towns are showing declines in vacancy, the two wealthiest, Castlebar and Westport, are moving in the opposite direction.

Westport, in particular, should set alarm bells ringing.

In 2021, Westport had 1,179 vacant homes. Today, it’s 1,327 - a sharp increase in a town already under acute pressure. Castlebar also rose slightly, with seven more vacant homes than four years ago.

Curiously, the wider Westport area saw a 12% reduction in dereliction over five years, progress now being undone. Many of those old cottages along the coast were bought for cash, ‘investment opportunities’ destined for anything but local families.

What’s happening in Westport is especially troubling. The town is reducing dereliction at the fastest rate in the county, yet vacancy is climbing.

The explanation couldn’t be any clearer: buyers snapping up homes, flipping them into short-term lets, or, worse, leaving them idle as speculative assets.

Westport is already Mayo’s most expensive place to buy. Fully finished homes with Atlantic views can fetch close to a million.

Ordinary locals know ownership is beyond reach, but what’s new is the sheer acceleration of investor activity.

And before the Airbnb brigade starts polishing their five-star ratings and direct their ire toward me, let’s be clear: this is no longer about the odd room rental or a single-family home on the platform.

We’re looking at mass acquisition, renovation and short-term letting at scale. Investors have clocked that Westport is one of the most lucrative Airbnb markets in the country. Buy cheap, do up, let it out for the summer months, it’s a near-guaranteed return. When government regulation and policy encourage this, who would blame them?

Walk through the vibrant tourist town on any day and the signs are everywhere. Lockboxes and keypads litter the walls where once vacant apartments, ideal for young local couples, have been flipped into lets for waves of transitory guests.

Will Westport see Barcelona-style protests? At the current trajectory, there may soon be nobody left to protest.

Government appetite for regulation is close to nil. Just look at Dublin and Galway, where the same crisis plays out on an even larger stage.

In Westport, families who want to stay local can’t find long-term rentals, won’t qualify for social housing, and will never earn enough to buy. If their landlord sells up, their ‘solution’ is temporary shelter in Charlestown - a 120km round trip if they want to keep their kids in school with their friends. Over 50 children in Mayo find themselves in homeless accommodation as per July figures.

Down in Kerry, with its similar tourist towns, the Healy Raes and Minister Norma Foley have railed against regulation, calling Airbnb “vital to rural Irish life.” But let’s be honest: what’s truly vital is roofs over heads, not keypads on door frames.

If we can’t house our sons and daughters, or provide security for the elderly who built these communities, what’s the point?

Tourism has its place.

Hotels do their job. Even single-home Airbnbs have a role.

But these figures don’t lie: Westport has become an investor’s paradise - buy low, flip fast, cash in.

And locals are the ones left paying the price.