Cairns Regional Council to consider Airbnb tax in next planning scheme

Property owners who are cashing in on the Airbnb market could soon have to pay extra council rates, says the deputy mayor. Here’s why.

Property owners in Cairns who are cashing in on the Airbnb market could soon have to pay extra council rates, says the deputy mayor.

It comes after an exclusive Cairns Post story found there were more than a dozen unauthorised Airbnbs operating in a Clifton Beach residential apartment complex.

Deputy mayor Brett Olds, who’s the Division 9 councillor in the northern beaches where he admits this issue is rife, said people operating Airbnbs in residential-zoned areas were simply “getting away with it”.

While property owners are supposed to have the correct zoning permissions to operate Airbnbs, council does not actively monitor them.

“If you don’t have any information or if you have bad information, then you can’t plan around that,” Mr Olds said.

Cairns Regional Council Division 9 councillor and deputy mayor Brett Olds agrees with extra rates for Airbnb operators. Picture: Brendan Radke

“It is a problem in a lot of areas, especially out in Division 9.

“I get phone calls all the time from people all the time that have neighbours (with) Airbnbs or holiday lets and they don’t like it, they call the police.”

Cairns Regional Council officers have been investigating whether it should have greater regulations and fees for Airbnbs in the next planning scheme, Mr Olds said.

While he was against the proposed tenant tax, the Division 9 councillor said he would support extra rates for those turning their properties into short-term lets if the tax struck the right balance.

“We’ve got the 2016 planning scheme at the moment, but over the next 18 months, two years, we’ll be starting a new planning scheme,” he said.

“This is one of the things we’re going to be looking at in the new planning scheme is how to address this so we have the ability, the authority to regulate it.

“If they’re going to be used as a hotel or short stay, they should be in certain areas and they should have to pay some of the same costs that hotels and resorts have to pay.

“I’m not against competition, I’m not against people holiday letting and making money and investing but there has to be a like for like.

“It’s not an even playing field, it’s almost a bit similar to when Uber came in.”

In December, during the region’s quiet season for tourism, Cairns had by far the largest non-urban market of short-term rental accommodation in Queensland with 2124 listings advertised, according to data analytics firm AirDNA.

Councillor Olds said Airbnbs in residential areas were an issue for residents in the northern beaches. Picture: ROSS PALM

That’s almost double the Whitsundays which came in at second with 1102 short-term properties.

There were 996 short-term rentals available in the Douglas Shire in December, though that was down from 1026 in October.

A council spokesman said work had also started on the Towards 2050 Growth Strategy.

“(This) will include a housing needs assessment of the current and future population, investigate land supply and recommend how housing can be delivered in the right locations and providing for housing choice, diversity and affordability,” he said.

Originally published as Cairns Regional Council to consider Airbnb tax in next planning scheme