New Airbnb NSW Regulations
There’s been a lot happening in the press this week in relation to new laws proposed for short
term rentals in NSW. We’re all across it for you. To keep you informed, here are the proposed
changes in a nutshell:
● New planning laws are set to be introduced in the next few months for short term and
vacation rentals in greater Sydney.
● A 180-day cap on properties used for Airbnb-style letting in greater Sydney when hosts
are not present will be introduced. The rest of the state will not have this cap imposed.
● Councils outside of greater Sydney will have the power to impose their own caps but
cannot be less than 180 days per year.
● There will be changes to strata legislation, owner corporations to pass bylaws
banning short-term letting in their buildings.. This is only in circumstances where
properties are not owner-occupied. Strata committees will not have the power to prevent
owner-occupiers from renting rooms within their units.
● A two strike policy will apply to those who breach the code, with financial penalties as
well as banning from short term rental for a period of up to 5 years being imposed.
● As a compliance mechanism, Airbnb and other operators will be required to sign up to
the code of conduct, and share their data with the NSW government.
No doubt, these are significant changes in the short term rental landscape. What it means for us at HomeHost is that the demand for short term rental properties is set to skyrocket. We are yet to see of course, how this will impact on rental rates. We welcome the changes as a positive shift towards providing a higher standard of accommodation as competition increases and see it as being in line with our movements bringing everyone onboard with Airbnb Plus.
While we support appropriate regulation that provides certainty to owners, travellers and the communities in which we live, we do not support the proposed regional differentiation or granting strata buildings with the power to set restrictions that infringe essential property rights of owners and have made that ask clear to the government. The restrictive night limits that have been proposed for metropolitan Sydney and regional areas risk limiting the sector, driving up the cost of accommodation and sending valuable tourism dollars to other states.
We also do not support the Government’s two strikes policy and we will work hard to convince policy makers of the need to ensure the guidelines for what constitutes a strike are sufficiently robust. We want to ensure that vexatious complaints do not unfairly penalise responsible property owners. Further, we expect that the proposed review in one year, which we support, will bear out the need for a strikes policy that is more flexible.
If you’re interested in chatting about how these changes may impact on your property, I’m here. In the meantime, as any news comes to hand, I’ll make sure to share it with you.
Speak Soon
Gabriel
