Calls Made For Kildare Homeowners To Rent Out Their Spare Bedrooms

Friday, 1 September 2023 15:41

By Caoimhe Harney

The Rent-a- Room Relief scheme is designed to encourage people with spare rooms to rent them out

There are calls on Kildare homeowners with spare rooms to rent them out.

It comes as data from Census night 2022 shows at least 1.2 million bedrooms were unoccupied in the country.

Some 389,000 or 21% of the total households in Ireland had 2 or more spare bedrooms as of 3rd of April 2022.

With Healthcare workers, teachers, students and homeless people all struggling to find accommodation there are calls for older people to consider letting out a room.

There are also suggestions that a bedroom tax could work to incentivize people to rent out a room.

In the meantime any home seekers or tenants are also being urged to seriously consider renting rooms rather than looking for an entire property given the current shortage.

The Rent-a- Room Relief scheme is designed to encourage people with spare rooms to rent them out, in the hopes that this may be one form of solution to the housing crisis.

This scheme allows homeowners to earn up to €14,000 in a single tax year, exempt from income tax, PRSI, and USI. There are some regulations which need to be complied to in order to qualify for this tax relief:

The owner must be resident in the property
The property must be the owner’s primary residence
With the exception of student and respite care leases, short term leases (such as Airbnb, guesthouse or bed and breakfast bookings) are not compliant with the Rent-A-Room scheme
The room cannot be rented to direct family members
Home owners can avail of the scheme and declare income through Revenue Online Service