A company owned by Luxembourg landlord Marc Godart has been fined in the Dublin District Court for the provision of short-term letting without the required planning permission.
Judge John Brennan imposed a fine of €1,500 and made an order for costs of €3,601 against Reuben Street Hot Desks Ltd, of Reuben House, Reuben Street, Dublin 8, after the company pleaded guilty to the offence.
Solicitor Michael Quinnlan, for Dublin City Council, said 17 inspections were carried out on the Reuben House property since April of last year and on seven occasions it was discovered that short-term letting was under way, despite an enforcement notice being served in March 2023 ordering the company to desist. The most recent inspection that discovered ongoing short-term letting was on April 23rd of this year.
“It’s an Airbnb, basically, judge,” he said. “I understand the use has now ceased.”
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During the most recent inspection an official from the council attended the building in the morning and approached a man who emerged. The person said they had rented the property for two nights and done so over Airbnb, Mr Quinnlan said.
David Staunton, for the company, said there had been an application for planning permission for a change of use of the property to an aparthotel, but it had not been successful.
The company had now ceased offering the property for short-term letting and acknowledged that what had happened should not have occurred, he said.
Judge Brennan noted that there was no one from the company in court for what was “a serious enough charge” and said the fact that the company had, for a period of 12 months, “essentially ignored” the compliance order was an aggravating factor.
However, he also noted that the company had no previous convictions and had entered a guilty plea.
Similar charges against Mr Godart, who lives in Luxembourg, and another of his companies, Green Label Property Investments Ltd, were struck out.
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