Waverley Council proposes motion for NSW 60-day limit on short term rentals, Airbnb

With almost one in 10 homes listed on Airbnb, one eastern suburbs council has called for more powers to limit the number of nights for short term rentals.

Paula Masselos, mayor of Waverley Council.

An eastern suburbs council wants local governments NSW-wide to be empowered to restrict short stay rentals to address the worsening rental crisis.

Waverley Council in Sydney’s east will decide whether to progress a motion to allow councils to limit the number of nights allowed at short-term rental accommodation to 60 days per year – down from 180 days – in greater Sydney and parts of regional NSW at its Tuesday meeting.

The motion is one of several the council will consider taking to the 2023 Local Government NSW Conference in November, where local councils set their collective agenda for the year ahead.

It proposes councils advocate to the NSW Department of Planning and Environment to allow them to limit the number of nights in short-term rentals to increase long-term rental availability and affordability.

The motion follows multiple councils across NSW calling on the Labor government to introduce legislation to cap short term rental properties like Airbnb to help increase housing supply.

An Airbnb listed in Sydney’s eastern suburbs.

An Airbnb listed in Sydney’s eastern suburbs. Picture: Airbnb Luxe.

Airbnb offers almost 3000 listings in the Waverley area across shared rooms, private rooms, units and houses, making the eastern suburbs along with the northern beaches the most concentrated areas for listings, with Sydney the 10th largest Airbnb market worldwide.

According to data from Inside Airbnb, there were 16,875 listings of entire homes on Airbnb for the metropolitan Sydney area in August.

Sydney the 10th largest Airbnb market worldwide. Picture: Lionel Bonaventure/ AFP.

Airbnb listings in the Waverley LGA, data sourced from Inside Airbnb 2023. Picture: Waverley Council.

Waverley Council documents state a nine per cent of dwellings in the area are listed on Airbnb; more than double that of the City of Sydney, which has four per cent of dwellings listed.

Tenants’ Union of NSW chief executive Leo Patterson Ross said the organisation had advocated for 60-day limits since 2017.

Mr Ross said getting a full picture of the short-term rental market was difficult, however he believed enacting these rules could result in a 1-2 per cent increase in vacancy rates in many areas.

“I think we can be pretty confident that there would be enough of a number that it would bring some relief to the renting sector,” he said.

Airbnb head of public policy for Australia and New Zealand Michael Crosby said NSW already had a sophisticated set of rules for the short-term accommodation sector.

“With 128 different councils around New South Wales it is much more appropriate the existing statewide rules are retained to minimise confusion rather than a council-by-council approach,” Mr Crosby said.

A Waverley Council spokesman said the council would comment following Tuesday’s meeting.