RENTALS MOGUL HITS SHORT-TERM LETS SNAG
A YOUNG business mogul has suffered a significant obstacle in his business venture after Dublin City Council vowed it will continue to clamp down on Airbnb-style holiday rentals in the city.
Short-term lets have come under fire as thousands of properties across Ireland have been let out amid the housing crisis when they could provide permanent homes.
William McGlade, 28, is the founder of Hip Hip
Stay, a company which has rented out luxury accommodation for shortterm stays since 2017.
The business uses five townhouses at 14-18 Grattan Court East, Lower Mount Street. All have several suites to rent to holidaymakers and, say neighbours, stag and hen parties. Rates start at €350 per night.
All the suites are named after have well-known Irish figures such as Colin Farrell, Patrick Kavanagh, Phil Lynott, Bono, Brendan Gleeson, Enya and Mary Robinson, not all of which are in Grattan Court East.
At one point, there was a Bobby Sands suite in Grattan Court. This has since been changed to the Daniel-Day Lewis suite on the hiphipstay.com website following criticism.
Dublin City Council tightened regulation on Airbnb-style lettings last year in line with new national regulations which required owners in rent-pressure zones to get planning permission to use their housing for shortterm lets for more than three months a year.
Mr McGlade, the son of Champion Sports and Therapie cosmetic clinics founder Paul McGlade, was among 16 applying to retain permission.
However, it was reported this week that the council has adopted a policy of not granting approval. This will be put before councillors next week.
The young mogul also faces complaints from neighbours that guests have been ‘loud, noisy and disruptive’.
A submission by neighbours to An Bord Pleánala states that the neighbours at Grattan Court ‘witnessed people urinating on the street, cans and glasses being thrown from the roof-top terraces of the units’.
Mr McGlade did not respond to our request for comment.