Labor demands freeze on short-stay accommodation permits

A Tassie MP says a flood of tourists once borders open next week will only make Tasmania’s housing crisis worse, as she calls for a crackdown on short-stay accommodation permits.

A flood of tourists will worsen Tasmania’s housing crisis unless the government puts a lid on short-stay rentals, Labor warns.

On Tuesday, Member for Clark Ella Haddad demanded the government to hit pause on any new whole-house short-stay permits ahead of the border reopening on December 15.

“With borders opening very soon there’s going to be increasing pressure on that tourism accommodation market,” Ms Haddad said.

“We’re calling on a pause on new short stay accommodation permits being issued until we can find our way out of the housing crisis.”

Freeze: Ella Haddad is demanding the government to stop short-stay rentals from entering the market. Picture: Kenji Sato

The proposal would stop new short-stays from entering the market, but would not impact on existing ones.

Tenants Union of Tasmania principal solicitor Ben Bartl said they should take it one step further and crack down on pre-existing Airbnbs.

Mr Bartl said landlords should not be allowed to turn whole houses into Airbnbs while local Tasmanians continue to be priced out of their own state.

“Labor’s policy is a good first step, but we don’t believe it goes far enough,” Mr Bartl said.

“Although we support a moratorium on new permits, it’s our view there are already far too many properties that have been converted to short-term accommodation.”

Airbnb landlord Louise Elliot rubbished Ms Haddad’s suggestion, saying she was scapegoating the short-stay industry when the real problem was a lack of housing supply.

She said Airbnbs were a “tiny” contributor to the problem, and that council red tape was largely to blame for slowing down the rate of new houses being built.

“This is a distraction from the bigger issue. We’re micromanaging other people’s properties when we’re not addressing the root cause,” she said.

“If we make it easier to build a home in Hobart, we don’t need to micromanage what other people do with their property.”

Michael Ferguson. Picture: Kenji Sato

Housing Minister Michael Ferguson said banning short-stays would not solve the current shortage of rental accommodation, particularly in the urban centres.

“Once again Labor think they know better than Tasmanians and are telling people what to do with their own properties and in many cases their holiday shacks,” Mr Ferguson said.

“At a time when our tourism sector and hospitality businesses are looking forward to reopening and welcoming visitors back, it is misdirected for Labor to again seek to demonise short stay accommodation and the benefits it brings to our state.”

Airbnb’s head of public policy for Australia and New Zealand Derek Nolan said short-stay rentals provided a boost to the local economy and the hard-hit tourism industry.

“Tasmania’s short stay laws are working to both secure the long-term future of tourism jobs, and ensure compliance with local planning rules,” Mr Nolan said.

“Airbnb is Tasmania’s largest accommodation providerand the overwhelming majority of our Hosts are ‘mum and dad’ operators looking to supplement their income, with many hit hard by the pandemic.”