NSW MPs have been invited to a special event at Parliament House on Thursday where Airbnb employees and ‘selected super-hosts’ will ‘advise them on home sharing and the visitor economy in NSW’, according to the Sydney Morning Herald.
The state government is expected to table new laws next month that will, if they follow the recommendations of a parliamentary inquiry last year, ‘allow home owners to “share” their houses and apartments with overseas visitors even when their property is zoned as permanent residential only.’
The paper says many MPs are ‘already onside with home-sharing, and on Thursday they will hear Airbnb argue that guests and hosts supported $214 million in economic activity in one year in Sydney, supporting 1600 jobs.’
But according to the anti homeshare group Neighbours Not Strangers, economic analysis from San Francisco’s Financial Controllers, shows that ‘where short-term platforms such as Airbnb increased their city’s hotel tax revenue and tourist spending, the removal of homes from their supply of rental stock resulted in a net loss to San Francisco of between USD250,000-USD300,000 per property, every year.’
The group said parliament had also been provided with an Australian Institute of Criminology report analysing crime concentration in high-rise buildings, ‘together with a plethora of links to websites offering 30-minute bookings in residential homes.’
‘What state MPs will certainly not hear from Airbnb on Thursday is the chorus of complaints from Legislators the world over who decry the ‘false and misleading information and so-called data’ repeatedly pedalled to them by Airbnb, a Neighbours Not Strangers spokesperson said.
The group said NSW MPs can ‘expect a follow-up summary on NSW legislation and Land and Environment Court case law that protects residents’ rights and our homes from penetration by operators in the Short-Term Letting Industry. ‘
‘Local government authorities should be mandated to enforce planning and zoning legislation,’ the group said.
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