Calls by online holiday rental agency Stayz for Byron Council to abandon its own holiday letting policy and adopt the NSW government’s yet to be adopted policy has been dismissed by Greens Cr Michael Lyon.
Stayz corporate affairs director Eacham Curry told The Echo, ‘Global experience shows that an arbitrary cap on nights that a property can be available to let won’t suddenly make ordinary short term rental properties available for long term rent, and it certainly won’t address the other consistently cited concerns about community amenity and impact on local council service provision.’
Curry argues against correcting the imbalance of homes permanently let in Byron Shire. When asked if more long-term rentals could result in a strengthened community and thus a more desirable visitor destination, he replied, ‘Holiday rental accommodation not only adds to the community by opening up new areas to tourism that are not currently serviced by traditional tourist accommodation, it also acts as a catalyst for economic growth and jobs – all important things for strengthening communities’.
Yet Cr Michael Lyon (Greens) told The Echo, ‘It is no surprise that there has been push-back from the holiday letting industry in response to Council’s policy position…’
He accused Eacham Curry from Stayz as having ‘only concern for his company’s interests’.
‘…The evidence shows that long term let provides better returns to property owners compared with short-term letting, when the short term letting is done for less than 90 days per year. Greater availability and supply of long term rentals will mean better affordability, this is simple economics. I am glad that Mr Curry acknowledges the need for registration because this is essential in ensuring that the 90-day caps are adhered to.
‘Byron has the lowest rental vacancy rate in the state and Byron households spend, on average, close to half of their disposable income on rent. This exacerbates inequity and forces parts of our community to move out of the shire and to commute in for work. This in turn adds to traffic chaos, now a daily occurrence at the highway and coming through town during peak hour’.
The following is a Q&A with Stayz Corporate affairs director Eacham Curry:
Stayz says Byron’s policy “…will result in holiday homes sitting unused for longer.” This appears the objective of the policy – ie to return some holiday homes back to long term rentals.
‘In our experience, short-term rentals are mostly made up of holiday homes that were never part of the long-term housing stock. They are rather the family beach shack they use themselves or rent out to other holiday makers when they are not staying there.
‘By reducing the availability of short-term rentals, these family holiday homes will not automatically turn up on the long-term rental market. Rather, families will stop letting these properties out when they are not using themselves – this will limit the availability of short-term rentals and ultimately drive up the cost of holiday accommodation.
‘Global experience shows that an arbitrary cap on nights that a property can be available to let won’t suddenly make ordinary short term rental properties available for long term rent and it certainly won’t address the other consistently cited concerns about community amenity and impact on local council service provision.’
In Byron’s case, more long-term rentals could result in a strengthened community and thus a more desirable visitor destination. Would you agree?
‘Holiday rental accommodation not only adds to the community by opening up new areas to tourism that are not currently serviced by traditional tourist accommodation, it also acts as a catalyst for economic growth and jobs – all important things for strengthening communities.
‘More specifically, holiday rental accommodation has been part of the fabric of Bryon Bay and regional communities for decades. In fact, Byron Bay was years ahead of the trend of travellers seeking out personalised holiday experiences – an offering that short-term rental is perfectly positioned to accommodate.
‘In any case, our regulatory solution will give Councils more information about the short-term rental accommodation sector and allow them to make more informed decisions about housing and urban planning.’
Byron’s holiday rental market is unique, yet Stayz appears to be against a policy that reflects Byron’s unique situation. Why shouldn’t Byron have a unique solution to this issue?
‘Stayz supports state government mandated registration of all short-term rentals for the precise purpose of collecting verifiable data that will inform proper decision making about how best to manage the short-term rental sector. Without a clear understanding of the short-term rental accommodation sector, it is almost impossible for councils like Byron Shire to make informed decisions about urban planning and housing.
‘Our three-pronged regulatory solution will empower Byron Shire Council to address localised questions about housing and urban planning. With better data at hand about our industry, Mayor Richardson and Byron Shire Council will be able to address important considerations housing and urban planning in a way that does not unnecessarily limit the economic potential of the important tourism industry.’
Stayz’s state-wide policy recommendations for the NSW government are:
- Compulsory and simple registration for all properties listed on a short-term rental accommodation platform, that will help inform sensible and easily understood policy.
- The creation of a mandatory short-term rental code of conduct for owners and managers – including a three strikes rule for those who do not meet the standards.
- A new largely industry-funded and administered body to quickly address problems and adjudicate questions about amenity, noise and overcrowding at short-term rental accommodation properties.
Full statement by Cr Michael Lyon:
‘It is no surprise that there has been push-back from the holiday letting industry in response to Council’s policy position on Short Term Holiday Letting, rebranded recently to Short Term “Residential” Accommodation or STRA. These comments from the holiday letting industry fall into two categories, the absurd and the reasonable. Addressing the absurd first, Eacham Curry of Stayz shows he has only concern for his company’s interests. Contrary to his baseless assertions, the proposed 90-day cap on STRA will indeed address availability of long term letting because the evidence shows that long term let provides better returns to property owners compared with short-term letting, when the short term letting is done for less than 90 days per year. Greater availability and supply of long term rentals will mean better affordability, this is simple economics. I am glad that Mr Curry acknowledges the need for registration because this is essential in ensuring that the 90-day caps are adhered to. We have assembled comprehensive and compelling research on the effects of STRA in the Byron Shire and it is precisely this research that leads us to this policy response.
‘Others connected to the industry such as Colin Hussey and Michael Murray make good points and I acknowledge that the proposed policy is not perfect, as no broad-based policy can be, but doing nothing is not an option given the research and statistics show just how much our community is suffering due to the lack of regulation. Byron has the lowest rental vacancy rate in the state and Byron households spend, on average, close to half of their disposable income on rent. This exacerbates inequity and forces parts of our community to move out of the shire and to commute in for work. This in turn adds to traffic chaos, now a daily occurrence at the highway and coming through town during peak hour. Our first priority must be to return a portion of houses being used for holiday let in residentially-zoned areas back into the long-term letting pool. Once we have done this we can re-assess in the future and potentially look at easing the restrictions in certain areas, perhaps by creating a precinct system. We could get nuanced and creative if the State Government has a mind to, by allowing a fixed number or percentage of dwellings to be let year round, through an approval and application system. What is needed right now however, is a simple, enforceable mechanism to ensure that residential zones are housing the residents and workers of this shire.
‘Compliance with this regime can be achieved with a locally operated register whereby short-term letters are required to specify in advance any period that they will be making their property available. This enables Council staff to monitor letting sites and any property not properly registered that appears on a platform can automatically be issued a fine or followed up with enforcement action. A fee for registration will cover the costs of compliance, something already able to implemented under existing Local Government regulations. Once the scheme is operational, most people will follow the rules, particularly when it is clear that compliance will be effective. In the past, the evidentiary burden was too high and action too costly for Council staff to successfully prosecute large numbers of people, hence why despite it being a prohibited activity under the current laws it has been able to run rampant in recent years with the advent of the new online technologies.
‘The potential impacts on tourism of this policy are also overstated, as are the benefits of short term letting in our community. Traditional forms of holiday accommodation provide far more jobs per dollar spent, and interestingly, outside peak season, Byron’s hotels/motels and DA-approved B&Bs have a lot of spare capacity, especially for a tourist town, where in places like Noosa the occupancy rate is much higher. With the expansion of our two nearest airports in Ballina and Coolangatta, virus pandemics aside, we are not likely to see a slackening of demand anytime soon, quite the opposite. Any change in policy will create some winners and losers, but the inaction on this issue over the last ten years has seen a huge amount of distress and our community has been losing out while the lucky few, many being out-of-town investors, have cashed in. It is past time to address this imbalance and act for the broader good of our community, as more and more tourist towns and cities are beginning to do across the world that are facing the same struggles we are’.
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