'We are the fuel of this town', yet Dingle residents struggle to find housing ahead of tourist season

A chronic shortage of homes in the Kerry beauty spot means that people who want to live and work in the town are being priced out of the market.

Some are living in fear of eviction as more properties are listed on the short-term rental market, with landlords attracted by the huge profits to be made on Airbnb.

Another issue is the number of vacant or derelict homes that can be seen all over the peninsula.

Many were family homes left to fall into ruin as the younger generation emigrated or moved into urban areas.

Three adopted Kerry families who have been living long term on the Dingle peninsula told the Irish Examiner about their concerns regarding the housing market in the area.

Edwin de Groot is 44 years old and from Holland.

He has lived in the Lispole/Annascaul area for 17 years with his wife Jessica, 40, and their son Peter, 5.

Over the Easter period, the family were given notice to leave their rented home and he believes they have almost no hope of finding an affordable place to rent.

While his landlord needs the house back for a valid reason, he believes many others are removing long-term tenants in order to capitalise on the summer windfall.

Landlords renting out holiday homes are making more in those 12 to 14 weeks in a summer season than they would by renting long-term.

“It is annoying if they do it without proper permission," he said. "They are allowed to get away with it, so it is not the fault of the landlord, they just want to make money.”

He is sympathetic to others in his situation and believes more could be done to tackle the housing crisis.

“Our landlord was very good to us, but he needs the house back for a good reason,” said Mr de Groot. “We have time to move but we would rather find something as soon as possible.

“We have never been so stressed in our lives. We both work at the printers here and our son goes to school locally.

“If you go online, it’s a holiday market and a shared apartment long term could cost you €2,000 or more.” 

Balance in housing market

He said there is no equal or fair balance in the housing market in Dingle, and according to the Residential Tenancies Board (RTB), the only rent pressure zone in Kerry is Killarney.

“There is some greed involved, but we all want to make a living,” he said. “I do not blame the Government for our eviction or the lack of housing — except for the lack of enforcement on illegal holiday rentals.

But I do believe that the Government can do more to alleviate the problem, such as introducing tax incentives, refurbishment grants, and the authorities buying houses to be used as social housing.

“If you do not go by the rules on Airbnb then you should be penalised,” he added.

“We never signed up for social housing; our rent was more than reasonable, and we had no intention of ever going anywhere else. But we have no hope of social housing now and would be years waiting on the list, but we will sign up anyway,” he said.

The family are hoping to be able to buy their own home in a few years.

“The houses are too expensive right now,” said Mr de Groot. “We would love a small cottage and to be given the chance to start again.

“There is also an awful lot of empty houses and houses going to ruins; some families are dying, and the younger ones want a new house, so they are just leaving.

“If you go around a five-mile radius from our house there are at least 15 houses, most of them are in ruins, with a caved-in roof.

“Several houses have also been abandoned.” 

Claire O’Halloran is 60 years old and moved to Kerry in 1988 from Cork city.

A visual artist, she works as a guide for the Office of Public Works in Skellig Michael for five months of the year.

“I spend the winters on the Dingle Peninsula. I am just in the last days of vacating the house where I have lived and worked as an artist for 10 years,” she said.

“I always knew the arrangement would not be permanent. They were very good landlords.

“I got notice last July and I was searching from then and I only, after a long hard search, found somewhere in the same area in Ventry in January.

There was almost no choice involved; it was the first feasible place that became available, but it involved the breakup and dispersal of my art studio because I work in stained glass.

“I am in a relationship, and we are trying actively to find a place where we can live together permanently. We have no children, and I suppose that is a blessing in a situation like this,” said Ms O’Halloran.

“I have a long familiarity with the housing struggle. There are many people here, very similar to me, trying to sustain a creative life,” she said.

She said she was part of a group trying to establish a housing cooperative long before the boom, working with the county council. “But we ran out of steam, and we handed that site over to the housing association Clúid,” she said.

“A lot of us are still renting — some people were living in mobile homes just to remain in the area.

“I have been actively trying to find a permanent solution for three years. The housing market has accelerated again ahead of me, even though I work all year.

“All I need is three rooms — one to live in, one to sleep in, and one to work.

“I spend a lot of time trying to understand why this is happening,” she said. “That takes you to the global issue, which is complex — it is not simply the Government not functioning properly. It can’t just be about housing; it must be about justice and society as well as the economy.

“If you are a low-waged worker, you do not have access to adequate housing or healthcare.

“I could afford to buy a piece of land and put a mobile home on it. But I would not be able to afford to build a house.

“I would not get permission to put a mobile home on it permanently and there are waiting lists for all the established caravan parks in Dingle,” she said.

“Like many people in this situation, I have not been able to solve it yet for myself, but I could not be trying harder.” 

Monika Kloc, 40, is originally from Poland and has been living with her partner Craig Ransley 40, and their two children in Dingle since 2006.

They are due to move out of their home in September, having recently been given notice.

She works part time in a B&B and looks after Leo, aged 16 months, and Maya, aged 7.

“I call myself a Dingle nomad as we change addresses every few years,” she said. “In 2016, we had an unlucky attempt to buy, and we have moved four times since 2016.

“We must move out again. We are lucky we know people, so we have had help and somewhere to go.” She has been in touch with TDs and with local property agents, but says there is nothing available online except short-term lettings.

She is critical of local businesses for allowing this situation to develop for the staff they need to keep them going.

Businesses here want to have their cake and eat it — they say they have no staff, but the problem is there is nowhere to live.

“We are the fuel of this town — we keep it going. My partner works 12-hour shifts five days a week — that’s 60 hours — because they have no staff.

“We have tried for social housing several times, but it was refused due to our income.

“After my second child, luckily, we were accepted and only added to the housing list in 2022.

It is devastating and stressful for people who have nowhere to go and nowhere to rent.

Kerry County Council has no specific figures for the number of people on the housing list on the Dingle peninsula, but 210 applicants have noted the area as an area of choice in their applications.

Social housing

In a statement to the Irish Examiner, a spokesperson said: “As part of their housing application, applicants can select up to three areas of choice, three different locations within the county where they would consider an offer of social housing.

“Dingle has been chosen as an area of choice on 210 occasions [please note this number relates to the number of times the area was selected and not the number of unique applicants /applications — this figure clearly includes applicants who have expressed more than one area of choice].” The area is not currently a rent pressure zone (RPZ), as noted by Edwin de Groot.

In order for an area to be included as an RPZ, the Housing Agency and housing authorities must propose its inclusion to the minister, who will then instruct the Residential Tenancies Board to assess the area on whether it meets the criteria for designation.

“Each RTB quarterly Rent Index Report includes a table of the data used to establish whether each LEA fulfils the criteria for designation as an RPZ,” said the spokesperson.