‘Significant’ pain coming for Airbnb owners after council’s shock move

An Aussie council has announced a shock crackdown on one group of homeowners, warning of “significantly higher” costs to come.

Brisbane homeowners who rent out their properties on short-term accommodation platforms have been put on notice, amid warnings of “significantly higher” rates ahead.

According to The Courier Mail, mayor Adrian Schrinner has announced a crackdown on residents who rent out their homes on Airbnb and Stayz in a bid to ease the rental crisis.

Under the new plan, owners have been ordered to return their properties to the general rental market, or cop “significantly higher rates” for those who have transformed their homes into “mini hotels”.

“What we see is renters being affected with rents going up significantly, and then those that want to get a rental property are having real difficulty,” he told the ABC.

“If owners have these properties in the market for a short term, that is their choice, but what they’ll be facing now is a 50 per cent increase in their rates.”

The bombshell has sparked backlash from both platforms, with Eacham Curry, director, government affairs at Stayz, telling news.com.au councils must “recognise the benefit short-term rental accommodation (STRA) brings to the local economy”.

“The holiday rental industry injects about $201.5 million to the Brisbane tourism region and pre-pandemic supported up to 1456 full time jobs. It doesn’t make sense to then punish mum and dad homeowners by imposing higher rates or unfairly restricting how they can and can’t use their properties,” he said.

The shock move will raise costs for Airbnb hosts. Picture: Lionel Bonaventure/AFP

Mr Curry pointed to a recent decision taken by Bega Council in NSW, after councillors found that prohibiting short term rentals would not see more properties enter the pool for longer-term rentals, given many STRA properties were “luxury” homes which wouldn’t be considered “affordable” for lower and middle income tenants.

“Professor Roz Hansen, who has more than 40 years’ experience as an urban planner, confirmed there were better ways to address the issue of affordable housing than limiting the operations of STRA,” Mr Curry said.

“Stayz believes regulations for short-term rental accommodation should originate from the state and territory government level, rather than through piecemeal local council decision-making. We support a code of conduct for the whole sector and believe this should be done uniformly across all of Queensland at a state level like NSW and Tasmania have already done.

“We also caution against arbitrary fees that will fail to resolve housing supply issues and are not substantiated by data or consultation.”

Susan Wheeldon, Airbnb country manager for Australia and New Zealand, also slammed the move by Brisbane Council.

“As Queenslanders face sharply rising costs of living and economic uncertainty, now is not the time for making sudden policy changes, without consultation, that will put significant strain on households across Brisbane,” she said.

“Differential rates will place further financial pressure on everyday Queenslanders who share their homes to help make ends meet.

Stayz and Airbnb argue the move won’t help ease the rental crisis.

“It will also hurt guests and the broader community who rely on short-stay accommodation to travel affordably in Brisbane, including for purposes such as to provide care and support for family members.”

Ms Wheeldon said housing affordability and availability was a “complex issue” with a range of contributing factors such as population movements, the supply of new homes, the ratio of public housing, interest rates and broader economic conditions.

“Short term rentals generally comprise a tiny proportion of the overall Australian property market,” she said.

“Hosting helps many Australians stay afloat and make ends meet in the face of rising costs of living. In a recent survey, more than a third of Australian Hosts said one of the reasons they host is to earn money to help cover the rising cost of living, while almost four-in-10 said that hosting income has helped them stay in their home.

“Airbnb welcomes the opportunity to work constructively with (the) council towards commonsense regulatory initiatives backed by sound evidence.”