Despite the NSW government’s endorsement of Byron Shire Council’s 60-day cap for short-term rental accommodation (STRA), online booking agency Stayz says it will only result in limited ‘accommodation options for tourists and income for mum and dad retirees’.
Eacham Curry, Senior Director, Government and Corporate Affairs from Stayz, told The Echo, ‘Introducing a 60-day rental cap on the number of nights short-term rentals can operate will not introduce more homes to the long-term rental market in Byron Bay’.
‘It will only limit accommodation options for tourists and income for mum and dad retirees.
‘Stayz supports fit-for-purpose regulation of the short-term rental sector. The NSW government and Byron Bay Shire Council [sic] should allow the Code of Conduct and register that has been adopted to continue to operate as the best means by which to regulate behaviour and collect data that will inform longer-term policy’.
Despite Byron Shire’s housing stock estimated to be up to 14 per cent of unhosted holiday accommodation, Curry added, ‘Short-term rentals make up less than three per cent of Australia’s housing stock’.
Qld housing review
‘The Qld government’s recent Housing Review found that housing supply has the greatest impact on affordability and there is “no clear alignment between suburbs with the highest rent increases and the percentage of dwellings devoted to short-term rental.
‘The review found that there are several issues with night caps.
‘First, there is no”magic number” supported by empirical evidence’.
Curry added, ‘Various numbers have been trialled but have been found to be arbitrary. Most importantly, there is limited evidence to suggest that these would improve housing supply.’
Yet according to Dr Laura Crommelin, senior lecturer in City Planning UNSW, ‘There is a strong likelihood that short-term letting is taking away some properties that would otherwise be in the rental market, particularly in places with significant tourism appeal’.
Return to rentals
She said in a UNSW press release last week, ‘There is at least some proportion of existing housing stock used for Airbnb that would return to the rental market if short-term letting were a less attractive proposition. However, there will still be some owners who would prefer to leave their property vacant rather than ever use it for permanent rental housing’.
‘There is a much bigger discussion to be had around how broader housing policies, like negative gearing, capital gains discounts and a lack of social housing construction, have led us to the situation we’re in right now,’ Dr Crommelin says.
Ben Knight from UNSW adds that, ‘Many cities overseas have introduced strict regulations to protect local housing supply, including outright bans on commercial-style short-term rentals.
‘For example, New York has just introduced new regulations that effectively prohibit “unhosted” short-term rental listings, meaning listings are only allowed if the host is also living in the property. By comparison, the approach across Australia has been relatively permissive and hands-off’.
When Berlin put in strict STHR restrictions in 2016 ‘2,500 apartments in Berlin were put back on the rental market following the ban’ according to a Bloomberg report.
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