New Airbnb rules: State Government reveals 180-night limit
IT took three years, but the NSW Government finally released its short-term letting rules for websites including popular Airbnb this afternoon.
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SYDNEYSIDERS will be limited to letting out their homes on Airbnb for 180 days a year as the State Government finally announced a crackdown this afternoon on the popular online accommodation platform.
At the same time as Airbnb’s global policy head Chris Lehane was briefing the media in Sydney on the portal’s near-billion dollar annual worth to the NSW economy, the government rolled out its short-term letting rules after three years of public consultations and stalled announcements.
The changes, which were approved at a Coalition party-room meeting this morning, will allow for short-term holiday letting as “exempt development 365 days per year when the host is present”.
However, when the host is not present it will be breaking the law to rent out the property longer than 180 days across Greater Sydney, with 365 days allowed in all other areas across NSW.
Planning Minister Anthony Roberts said councils outside Greater Sydney would have the power to decrease the 365-day threshold to no lower than 180 days per year.
“And certain planning rules will apply to properties on bushfire-prone land,” he said.
The new laws to be introduced into the NSW Parliament will also include allowing an apartment complex to block the building from being used as an Airbnb property if 75 per cent of strata owners vote against it.
And a new “code of conduct” will be in place for online accommodation platforms, letting agents, hosts and guests would address impacts like noise levels and disruptive guests.
“(It) will also include a new dispute resolution process to resolve complaints, and NSW Fair Trading will have powers to police online platforms and letting agents,” Better Regulation Minister Matt Kean said.
“Under our ‘two strikes and you’re out’ policy, hosts or guests who commit two serious breaches of the Code within two years will be banned for five, and be listed on an exclusion register.”
NSW Fair Trading will set up independent adjudicators to check on the new rules and keep an online register of strikes. Businesses in breach of the code face fines of up to $1.1 million and individuals $220,000.
Mr Lehane welcomed the new “fair and innovative rules” which give homesharing the green light in NSW.
“They bring the rules for home sharing into the 21st century and send a clear signal that NSW embraces healthy tourism,” he said.
“These statewide rules strike the right balance. They protect the rights of respectful and responsible home sharers, while taking a zero tolerance stance on bad behaviour.”
The Sydney Business Chamber said the new regulatory framework was a “sensible step forward”, but it added that allowing strata to ban the use of short-term letting is a “significant misstep”.
Today’s announcement comes as NewsLocal can reveal Airbnb – which has a global worth of $42 billion – has made it onto the latest NSW Fair Trading shame list of most complained-about companies.
Airbnb had 10 complaints across NSW in April, but well behind the worst offender, Android Enjoyed, with 78.
“Fair Trading’s advice to customers who are dissatisfied in their dealings with Airbnb or any other accommodation sharing platform is to contact the trader and try to resolve the matter in the first instance,” a Fair Trading spokeswoman said.
“Customers who are unable to resolve their issues with the trader are advised to lodge a written complaint with Fair Trading at www.fairtrading.nsw.gov.au or call 13 32 20.”
AIRBNB’S WORTH TO THE NSW ECONOMY IN 2017
According to a Deloitte Access Economics Research report issued last month:
● Airbnb contributes more than $987 million to NSW’s Gross State Product and supports more than 7300 full-time jobs
● Airbnb contributes more than $340.7 million to regional NSW’s economy and supports more than 2516 full time jobs.
● The typical Airbnb guest spends more than $211 a day in NSW, with more than 69 cents in the dollar going into the community.
● There are now more than 55,000 Airbnb listings in NSW and Sydney is in the top 10 cities for Airbnb globally.
● The typical Airbnb host in NSW earns $5000 a year from hosting with Airbnb; it’s $3200 in Sydney