Post by High Priestess on Dec 26, 2015 16:20:58 GMT
See this article:
www.smh.com.au/nsw/airbnbs-big-sydney-summer-in-regulators-sights-20151219-glrmsj.html
Imagine if 25,000 people turned up at your New Year's Eve party. Fair chance the neighbours are not going to like it.
Spare a thought, then, for local councils and the state government next Thursday, when part of Airbnb's biggest-ever group of guests careens into Sydney on December 31.
That night, a record number of bookings is expected see more than a million people use the only short-term letting service so ubiquitous it is a verb, with 25,000 of them staying in Sydney.
Airbnbing is to "belong anywhere," according to the company. But to some in residential neighbourhoods who've suddenly found themselves at the forefront of the visitor economy, that just makes them want to be anywhere else.
This is the less romantic side of the "sharing economy". It's in the sights of a looming NSW parliamentary inquiry that could prompt a major shake up of the laws governing short-terms stays by the time Sydney next rings in the New Year.
The rapid expansion of Airbnb has made ambiguous planning controls for what was once a niche industry a problem too big to ignore.
A whopping 420,000 Airbnb bookings were made across NSW in the year to November. The company says this number, a 167 per cent increase on the year before, drove $540 million dollars through the state's economy.
Airbnb likes to cite its positive economic impact – opening up new affordable tourism markets, spreading the visitor spend and giving homeowners an income from a spare room – especially when facing the prospect of tighter regulation.
Opponents, such as hotel groups, are quick to point out that the sharing economy flouts planning rules and undercuts a hospitality industry forced to adhere to a much stricter set of regulations. Residents can also be left living as if in a bad hotel, if rowdy out-of-towners routinely take over the flat next door.
The rules for Airbnb can seem like anyone's guess, not least of all the councils supposed to enforce them. In the absence of any clear definition in state planning policies, it has been left to local government – and occasionally the courts – to interpret how short-term stays fit within the system.
Herein lies the problem. A survey of 34 Sydney councils by Fairfax Media this year found only six permitted short-term rentals, a fact clearly at odds with Airbnb's claim to have 15,000 listings across metropolitan Sydney.
When forced to confront this, the response by many Sydney councils has been inconsistent, disproportionate and at times farcical – like a host who studiously ignores a house guest only to sucker punch them once they upset the neighbours.
Rent out a room for a year or have a house-guest in for a week and it's your own business, but rent out a room for a couple of weeks a handful of times a year and you could be threatened with a $1.1 million fine. While a council takes you to court, dozens of nearby properties may be breaking exactly the same rules with impunity.
The inquiry is set to examine whether the current regulatory framework is adequate. There are plenty of overseas examples that lawmakers could look to. Chicago and San Francisco require the company to collect a lodging tax on behalf of hosts. Germany's capital, Berlin, operates a permit system. Even Queensland has introduced laws to clamp down on "party houses".
Another mooted option is to set a limit on the number of nights a property could be let out each year without requiring planning permission. A higher number of stays or more problems at a particular address could trigger greater levels of regulation.
This could be a solution for the usually laid back Byron Bay, the scene of many skirmishes over short-term rentals and one of Airbnb's biggest NSW markets outside Sydney. The northern beach town is likely to get its say when the inquiry's public hearings open next year.
But as the decision last week to legalise Uber shows, the government is prepared to flex the system for new industries disrupting the old. Given the sheer number of Sydney residents and visitors airbnbing, it may not have a choice.
www.smh.com.au/nsw/airbnbs-big-sydney-summer-in-regulators-sights-20151219-glrmsj.html
Imagine if 25,000 people turned up at your New Year's Eve party. Fair chance the neighbours are not going to like it.
Spare a thought, then, for local councils and the state government next Thursday, when part of Airbnb's biggest-ever group of guests careens into Sydney on December 31.
That night, a record number of bookings is expected see more than a million people use the only short-term letting service so ubiquitous it is a verb, with 25,000 of them staying in Sydney.
Airbnbing is to "belong anywhere," according to the company. But to some in residential neighbourhoods who've suddenly found themselves at the forefront of the visitor economy, that just makes them want to be anywhere else.
This is the less romantic side of the "sharing economy". It's in the sights of a looming NSW parliamentary inquiry that could prompt a major shake up of the laws governing short-terms stays by the time Sydney next rings in the New Year.
The rapid expansion of Airbnb has made ambiguous planning controls for what was once a niche industry a problem too big to ignore.
A whopping 420,000 Airbnb bookings were made across NSW in the year to November. The company says this number, a 167 per cent increase on the year before, drove $540 million dollars through the state's economy.
Airbnb likes to cite its positive economic impact – opening up new affordable tourism markets, spreading the visitor spend and giving homeowners an income from a spare room – especially when facing the prospect of tighter regulation.
Opponents, such as hotel groups, are quick to point out that the sharing economy flouts planning rules and undercuts a hospitality industry forced to adhere to a much stricter set of regulations. Residents can also be left living as if in a bad hotel, if rowdy out-of-towners routinely take over the flat next door.
The rules for Airbnb can seem like anyone's guess, not least of all the councils supposed to enforce them. In the absence of any clear definition in state planning policies, it has been left to local government – and occasionally the courts – to interpret how short-term stays fit within the system.
Herein lies the problem. A survey of 34 Sydney councils by Fairfax Media this year found only six permitted short-term rentals, a fact clearly at odds with Airbnb's claim to have 15,000 listings across metropolitan Sydney.
When forced to confront this, the response by many Sydney councils has been inconsistent, disproportionate and at times farcical – like a host who studiously ignores a house guest only to sucker punch them once they upset the neighbours.
Rent out a room for a year or have a house-guest in for a week and it's your own business, but rent out a room for a couple of weeks a handful of times a year and you could be threatened with a $1.1 million fine. While a council takes you to court, dozens of nearby properties may be breaking exactly the same rules with impunity.
The inquiry is set to examine whether the current regulatory framework is adequate. There are plenty of overseas examples that lawmakers could look to. Chicago and San Francisco require the company to collect a lodging tax on behalf of hosts. Germany's capital, Berlin, operates a permit system. Even Queensland has introduced laws to clamp down on "party houses".
Another mooted option is to set a limit on the number of nights a property could be let out each year without requiring planning permission. A higher number of stays or more problems at a particular address could trigger greater levels of regulation.
This could be a solution for the usually laid back Byron Bay, the scene of many skirmishes over short-term rentals and one of Airbnb's biggest NSW markets outside Sydney. The northern beach town is likely to get its say when the inquiry's public hearings open next year.
But as the decision last week to legalise Uber shows, the government is prepared to flex the system for new industries disrupting the old. Given the sheer number of Sydney residents and visitors airbnbing, it may not have a choice.