City of Sydney Is Considering a Ban on Short-Term Rentals — like Airbnb — Within Ten Major Suburbs
With rental availability at an all-time low, major Sydney suburbs could see platforms like Airbnb and Stayz kicked to the curb.
City of Sydney Council is officially considering banning short-term rental properties within its local government area. Booking platforms like Airbnb and Stayz are snapping up precious properties amid the country's ongoing housing supply shortage, and this could lead to a prohibition in areas where bookable home and apartment stays outnumber publicly listed rentals.
The motion was put forward by Greens Councillor Sylvie Ellsmore, who believes that NSW's existing 180-day limit on short-term rentals in Greater Sydney is ineffective, telling 702 ABC Sydney, "a cap may not work." The proposal isn't an all-out ban on short-term rentals, which are being enforced in more and more cities worldwide, since the City of Sydney LGA is a prime location for tourism, but it would come into effect when local rental housing vacancy rates drop below three percent.
Currently, multiple suburbs in the City of Sydney LGA sit below a three percent vacancy rate. The lowest figure is 0.9 percent in Redfern, followed by Darlinghurst and Surry Hills at 1.2 percent, 1.3 percent in Woolloomooloo, Rushcutter's Bay and Elizabeth Bay, 1.5 percent in Paddington, 1.6 percent in Glebe, 1.8 percent in Pyrmont and 2.3 percent in Camperdown.
City of Sydney Deputy Lord Mayor Jess Miller admitted that the council currently lacks the resources to differentiate between short-term rentals and primary residencies. Cr Miller did admit to the ABC that short-term renting in the area is "out of control," and called on the NSW Government to take a page from Western Australia, where verified short-term data is shared with councils to enforce restrictions.
iStock
Cr Miller specifically said, "I would love to have that replicated in New South Wales so that individual councils can access a robust, verified, reliable database so that we can make decisions that are appropriate to our LGA."
Cr Ellsmore argued that, "We need to start thinking about the difference between whether someone's trying to Airbnb the house, the home that they live in, or as an investment property."
"The investor issue, what we're seeing more of — people owning five, 10, 20, 30 properties, running it as a business. Because they can make so much money short-term renting, they're taking properties off the market that used to be someone's home."
Nikki To
Stayz Corporate Affairs Director, Eacham Curry, argued against the ban, saying "These measures ... could jeopardise the value that the short-term rental accommodation (STRA) sector brings to local communities and their economies."
"Stayz supports fit-for-purpose regulation of the STRA sector, administered consistently at a state or territory level…Local regulation increases costs, time, and resources, deterring the economic benefits that STRA brings to communities."
The proposal is still under early investigation, and as of late last week, NSW Premier Chris Minns had not yet seen the full details of the proposal, stating that he wanted to understand how it could impact the tourism sector if it were put into place.
Lead image: iStock
Like what you see? Subscribe to the Concrete Playground Newsletter to get stories just like these straight to your inbox.
- CP Picks: The Best Gifts for People Who Are Never Home — According to Travel Writers
- The Ten Best Hotels in Brisbane
- The Nine Best Coastal Spots for Whale Watching Across Australia
- The Best Things to Do This Anzac Day in Sydney
- The 28 Best BYO Restaurants in Sydney for When You're on a Budget (or Want to Bring Your Favourite Drop)
- The 25 Best Pubs in Sydney