‘Pseudo hotels’: Short-stays already outrank available rentals in nine Brisbane suburbs

People struggling to find a rental property in Brisbane are being dealt a cruel blow by giant Airbnb. CHECK YOUR SUBURB

• Editor’s view: State must step up on short-term rents

There are more properties available on the short-stay platform Airbnb than the private rental market in nine Brisbane suburbs – and industry leaders fear the supply imbalance will become worse.

Teneriffe already has 40 short-stay properties compared to 34 rentals but other inner-city suburbs risk tipping over the supply edge, including Bulimba and New Farm.

Short-stays are also on their way to overtaking available rentals in popular suburbs Kangaroo Point, Spring Hill, Auchenflower and Ascot, as Brisbane’s current vacancy rate remains at an all-time low of 0.8 per cent.

While thousands of Brisbane properties were listed on short-stay accommodation sites Airbnb, Stayz and Cheap Holiday Homes, only 679 properties were included in the Brisbane City Council’s official tally, after it introduced a self-reporting system last year.

A two-bedroom Airbnb apartment in South Brisbane with city and river views.

Just 16 per cent of short-stay property owners self-declared, with council also slapping hosts with a 50 per cent rates hike.

Of the 679 properties so far identified, 261 were houses and 418 units, apartments or townhouses.

Council confirmed more short-stay properties were yet to be added to the list, as the newly implemented Deckard Technology software system continued to find all short-stay properties advertised for 60 consecutive days.

Despite the slow progress, council’s chair of finance, Councillor Fiona Cunningham, said the council was so far happy with the self-reporting method.

“We introduced this new rating category so properties remain in the private rental market while ensuring those using private homes as pseudo hotels pay their fair share,” Cr Cunningham said.

Brisbane City Council’s Cr Fiona Cunningham. Picture: Attila Csaszar

“We said from the beginning that this new approach will take time to fully implement; however, the progress has been very positive.

“This is a new policy area for council and it is going to take time to identify properties that fall into this category.”

The state government in October 2022 commissioned independent experts to delve into the effects of short-term rentals such as Airbnb and Stayz, with the report meant to be done by the end of the year.

A spokeswoman for Deputy Premier Steven Miles office confirmed the “preliminary” research had been completed in late 2022 and the government had moved to “expand” the work, which would now include what was happening in other jurisdictions.

“We need a clearer picture of how sites such as Airbnb and Stayz are affecting the tight rental market,” she said.

“This will be a significant piece of work, providing detailed analysis into the positive and negative impacts on housing affordability and availability, the tourism industry, property owners and communities.

The government in October 2022 commissioned independent experts to delve into the effects of short-term rentals such as Airbnb and Stayz.

“It will also explore how the impact varies across different regions – for example, the impact in Noosa is likely to be different to the impact in Brisbane.”

Some short-stay hosts using the Airbnb platform are currently pricing two or three-bedroom properties at more than $2000 a week compared to the current median rental price of $550 a week.

REIQ chief executive Antonia Mercorella said the lucrative short-stay property trend was unsurprising, as ongoing tenancy reform had “driven away some investors” towards the short-term market.

She said both state and local governments should be incentivising private investors to either stay or move to long-term leasing, rather than penalising short-stay hosts or “imposing other forms of punishment”.

“Private investors are vital to the long-term rental market to ensure we have adequate levels of rental housing,” Ms Mercorella said.

“We would like to see the government taking a ‘carrot’ approach rather than coming at investors with the stick.”

REIQ chief executive Antonia Mercorella. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Glenn Campbell

Airbnb host Hollie Gordon, who rents out her Teneriffe property to NDIS participants and flood victims, said being a short-stay host was far more attractive than a landlord.

“I’m someone that’s worked really hard to acquire a rental property and to give that freedom away to someone else to do with it whatever they want, modify it how they like, that scares me,” she said.

“Landlords have lost control of their properties.

“I don’t understand why the government is not looking into interstate migration instead of talking about us being greedy landlords – we’re not.

“We’re looking after our own community.

“These are Brisbane residents we’re housing, not out-of-state tourists.”

Airbnb’s head of public policy for Australia and New Zealand, Michael Crosby, said the popular short-stay company was vying for a statewide registration scheme and was willing to help the housing crisis.

A two-bedroom Airbnb apartment in South Brisbane with city and river views.

“Airbnb is keen to work together with a broad range of stakeholders and help play a part in helping to provide meaningful solutions and tackle the issue of housing supply and affordability,” Mr Crosby said.

“The proposal included the introduction of statewide registration schemes and codes of conduct in every state and territory, support for a tourism levy to fund housing and community projects, and support for government reviews of eviction protections to ensure that current systems are fit for purpose and provide adequate housing security for long-term renters.”

Under council’s new short-stay rates category, owners who rent out non self-contained spare bedrooms on short-term accommodation websites are excluded.