StayLister for journalists

Key facts

Checked against the site on 20 October 2026.

• Founded: 2026, in Dublin.
• Price: Free for renters and for advertisers: no fees, no commission and no subscription.
• Checks: Every ad is checked before it goes live: an automatic check for scam warning signs, rents far below the area and reused photos. An advertiser’s first ad is checked by a person on our team, unless the advertiser has passed our ID check; then a person looks at 1 in 5 of those ads after they go live.
• Advertiser ticks: Each ad shows whether the advertiser confirmed their mobile number and email, and whether their ID was checked (a document and a live selfie, through Didit). The ticks say what was confirmed, not that anyone is safe.
• Languages: 8: English, Portuguese, Spanish, Polish, Italian, French, Chinese and Ukrainian. Ads show in the language the advertiser wrote them in.
• What is listed: Rooms in house shares, rooms in family homes, Monday–Friday digs for students and workers, and short-term lets of 22 nights or more.
• Room Report: A monthly report on what renters search for, their budgets, room ads and asking rents by city, and the scam signals our checks stopped. The first report comes out on 1 November 2026, then on the 1st of every month.

Accommodation fraud in Ireland: Garda figures

• Gardaí recorded 230 reports of accommodation fraud in the first half of 2026, with more than €410,000 lost, against 160 reports a year earlier. (Source: RTÉ, 25 August 2026)
• In the whole of 2025 there were 399 reports and €680,000 lost. (Source: BreakingNews.ie, 25 August 2026)

Story ideas

• Scam season, and what checks can and can’t do: Gardaí warned students about accommodation fraud in August 2026, as students and newcomers looked for rooms. What StayLister checks before an ad goes live, what it can’t check, and the one rule that stops almost every scam: never pay before you view.
• What renters search for, month by month: From 1 November 2026, the StayLister Room Report sets what renters searched for, and their budgets, against the room ads on offer, by city. Figures describe StayLister only, with sample sizes.
• The homeowner’s side of the room shortage: Rent-a-Room Relief lets homeowners earn up to €14,000 a year tax-free in 2026, rising to €16,000 from 1 January 2027. StayLister lists rooms and Monday–Friday digs in family homes for free.
• Renters handing their room on: Tenants leaving a house share can post their room for the next person, free, with their landlord’s agreement, instead of paying to advertise or posting in unchecked groups.
• Speed Housemating, run by students’ unions: A free kit lets any students’ union run a "meet potential housemates" night itself, with printable badges, cards and a poster, and clear safety rules.

Press contact

Email contact@staylister.com with "Press" in the subject line.