Surge in new hotels as crackdown on Airbnbs in Byron looms

On September 24 in northern NSW’s Byron Shire, the number of days short-term rental accommodation can be inhabited “unhosted” each year drops from 180 to 60. “Unhosted” means a stay at a property, usually booked through Airbnb or a similar platform, without the owners in situ.

The temperature-controlled magnesium pool at Basq House, Byron Bay.

The NSW Government restrictions – both the 180-day limit brought in back in 2021 for nominated local government areas and the new 60-day limit in Byron – were instigated because of long-term rental shortages, a burgeoning housing stock dedicated to the holiday market and other critical issues, seen as co-related.

The cut to 60 days was signalled 12 months ahead, so people could prepare, but Byron Shire Mayor Michael Lyon says the writing has been on the wall for a while, and this has been partly why the area has seen a surge in hotel-style accommodation (a new 32-room boutique getaway, Basq House, is a case in point).

“What we’ve seen because of the proposed changes, but also because Byron is attractive for investors, is that a lot more hotels have been developed, many at the higher end of the market, but also across the spectrum,” Lyon says.

″⁣People are investing more into that type of commercial holiday accommodation in the town centre (Byron Bay), where you want it – and that’s a great thing. That’s because investors move well ahead of time. So we’ve already seen the benefit of this policy coming into place, both through this kind of accommodation and also through the return of properties to the long-term rental market.”

The extent of the latter is yet to be quantified. Airbnb Australia and NZ spokesman Michael Crosby says there’s evidence that night caps, “both locally and internationally, have not worked to improve housing costs or supply” and points to the economic benefits Airbnb has brought to the Byron region.

Other LGAs facing a rental squeeze are watching Byron closely, as are those with a vested interest in the short-term rental market. For now, though, Byron can bask in the good-news opening of Basq House off a laneway in the heart of Byron. The hotel’s Melbourne-based owners say it is inspired by the grandeur of Moroccan riads, with many luxury rooms overlooking a magnesium pool.

It could become a home away from home for those finding themselves short of a holiday home post September 24.

Rooms from $425 a night. See basqhouse.com.au