LAST UPDATE | 11 Feb

DUBLIN CITY COUNCIL is set to “remove and destroy” key lock boxes that are used in public realm spaces for short-term rentals such as Airbnb.

The key lock boxes are increasingly being used across Dublin and Europe to store accommodation keys for short-term rentals.

Rather than having to meet the renter in person, or install some type of electronic lock or key box on the property, some Airbnb owners are storing keys in lock boxes that they then attach to public infrastructure, such as bike stands and street signage poles.

The renters are given a code which allows them to open the lock box and retrieve the key for the accommodation, without the need for the landlord to meet them in person.

However, the placement of these lock boxes in the public realm is not authorised by Dublin City Council (DCC) and under the Roads Act, DCC has the power to remove them from the street.

Last month, Paris followed several other French cities in banning the use of key lock boxes in public spaces.

In a report this month, DCC noted that there are a “number of issues with the use of lock boxes in the public realm”, such as posing a “trip hazard” and impeding the footpath.

In many cases, there are a large number of these units on same piece of public realm infrastructure.

DCC also noted that the lock boxes are sometimes “left lying on the ground without any protection, resulting in a public health issue as they may become contaminated”.

Concern was also raised that the lock boxes could become dislodged and that anyone seeking to use it to access keys may be unable to do so.

The Council further warned that there is “no authorisation for their use in the public realm and so this gives rise to issues regarding liability for any accidents, trips or other injuries in the public realm”.

As a result, DCC has proposed that it should adopt the policy that “lock boxes being used in the public realm will be removed and destroyed”.

The report stated that there needs to be “some warning to users of these lock boxes that they will be removed, so as to prevent visitors being stranded with no accommodation on arrival”.

Therefore, DCC has proposed that a date be set on which the lock boxes will be removed.

Six weeks before this agreed date, DCC will contact the main on-line short term rental providers, such as Airbnb, and “request that their clients are notified that the lock boxes will be removed from the public realm starting from the agreed date”.

The Council will also “encourage more effective controls on access to properties”.

DCC will also undertake a communications campaign six weeks before the agreed upon date to advise that lock boxes placed in the public realm will be removed and destroyed.

After this agreed date, any lock boxes found in the public realm will be immediately removed and destroyed.

‘Dirty and unsightly’

The Journal spoke to Labour councillor Dermot Lacey on the issue last August.

He said the lock boxes “assist in the proliferation of Airbnb”.

“While I’ve no objection to a reasonable proportion of Airbnbs,” said Lacey, “it is a contributory factor to our housing problem.”

Speaking this morning to The Journal, Lacey said he was “was delighted” with the report.

“I don’t say that often about Council reports, but it was very comprehensive and very clear,” said Lacey.

“I’m by and large a live and let live type of person, but the locks are incredibly unsightly and they’re absolutely everywhere”.

He said the locks make it difficult to keep the city clean and that the lock boxes “facilitate the sort of unaccountable Airbnb business, which I believe is bad for the city”.

“In every conceivable way, I think this is a good news story and a positive thing,” said Lacey.

“I’m not saying this will transform the city, but it’s a positive thing for the city, and we should welcome positive things.”

Lacey said that the report could go before the March meeting of the City Council and that after this meeting, Lacey said the likes of Airbnb “should be given one month”.

“So I would hope it would be operable from mid-April.

“I don’t see why there needs to be any delay.

“There’s no right to lock these to the stands, so the council is behaving in a courteous way by giving some time.

“The Council giving them some time is fairly reasonable in the first place, but the sooner or better, as far as I’m concerned.”