Residents are effing tired of collusion between Government & STR Industry
On 20 December 2013, the Council for the City of Sydney wrote to residents in an apartment block in Bridge Street, confirming that the short-term rental of residential apartments was an “Illegal Use of Premises”. Council had put this issue to the NSW Land & Environment Court (LEC) on multiple occasions and each and every time the LEC had judged in Council’s favour. Residents in the Bridge Street building were profoundly relieved; they had faced years of abuse and serious th
“THE RICH MOVE IN AND THE POOR JUST HAVE TO MOVE ON…That’s the way it is.”
Yesterday, World Homelessness Day, saw Byron Shire community residents launch a pushback campaign against short-term holiday letting operators in their area. Byron’s Echo News quotes campaign co-founder, Liz Friend: “A real estate agent said to me last year, ‘Well Liz, the rich move in and the poor just have to move on…that’s the way it is’.” While many residents support a plan to cap the use of homes for commercial hotel purposes to 90-nights per year, a group of business
NSW MINISTERS ‘TALK’ HOUSING FOR ALL
On 15 July this year, the Federal Minister Julie Collins put out a message: “On my way to Melbourne this morning to host a meeting of Australia’s Housing Ministers – the first of its kind in almost 5 years. It’s crucial we’re working together to address Australia’s housing challenges and I look forward to discussing solutions.” The Sydney Morning Herald’s Rachel Clun reported Minister Collins as saying: “All the state and territory ministers I’ve spoken to realise the seri
ASTRA RAISES $40,000 TO COMBAT BYRON SHIRE MAYOR ‘THREAT’
The Chair of the Australian Short-Term Rental Association (ASTRA) wrote recently (19/8) to his members. (ASTRA’s Chairman, Rob Jeffress, has somewhere in the vicinity of 580 homes listed as holiday rentals – this figure fluctuates constantly): “…in Byron Bay, owners and operators are under attack with the local Mayor determined to ignore state planning rules and move forward with public exhibition to impose a 90 night cap on short term rentals. As you can imagine, this would
HOW A BOOT FULL OF LOO ROLLS HELPS AIRBNB GO ROUND
Last Sunday, ABC TV News: The rural town of Dalgety was featured – in written print also. A 20-minute drive from Jindabyne, Dalgety is losing essential services. The local public school, post office and its only café “all closed this year”. And Dr Hamish Steiner says Bombala’s only GP clinic may be forced to close this year. The ABC’s Kira Proust went on to add that many rural towns across Australia are dealing with similar challenges, but it appears the sense of communi
ACCORDING TO ASTRA, HOLIDAY RENTAL COMPLAINTS RECEIVED BY NSW FAIR TRADING “MOSTLY NOT SIGNIFICANT”
According to an email distributed by Zsuzsanna Handelsmann, ASTRA (Australian Short Term Rental Association) recently received correspondence from the NSW Department of Customer Service (DCS) in relation to the implementation of a so-called ‘Code of Conduct’ for Airbnb/Stayz-type rentals. Handelsmann writes: “…the DCS is where the NSW Fair Trading (FT) resides. The Code came into effect on 18 December 2020, roughly 18 months ago. The DCS has taken this long to complete the
NSW MP SLAMS AIRBNB’s IMPACT ON HOUSING AFFORDABILITY & HOMELESSNESS…THE MP RENTS HIS HOLIDAY HOME
Cessnock, just 49 kms north-west of Newcastle, currently has 1,000 homes listed as active Airbnb rentals. The State Member for Cessnock, Clayton Barr MP, stood in Parliament two weeks ago: “I raise my electorate’s issue of housing affordability and homelessness, which has escalated significantly over the past couple of years. Since the creation of the unstoppable beast known as Airbnb and other platforms, home owners in New South Wales’ number one tourist destination outsi
BLUE MOUNTAINS: APR/MAY 30/51 RENTALS FOR TENANTS / 1,165 ACTIVE AIRBNBs
SQM Research is “an investment research house which specialises in providing accurate research and data to financial institutions”. Their published figures for April and May 2022 show residential vacancy rates in the Blue Mountains region at 30 and 51 homes respectively. The ‘Asking Weekly Rent – All Houses’ was $539-550. AirDNA, a “leading provider of data and analytics for the $140 billion short-term rental industry”, has 1,165 ‘active rentals’ for the Blue Mountains – ‘A
BEGA COUNCILLORS OPT FOR SHORT-TERM RENTALS OVER RESIDENTS
Bega Valley Shire councillors have voted to adopt their ‘Affordable Housing Strategy’, while dismissing a proposed limit to short-term rentals. Bega District News’ Ellouise Bailey reports that the idea of prohibiting short-term rental accommodation in residential R2 zones “did not make sense, given many STRA properties would not be considered “affordable” to lower and middle income tenants anyway”. Lisa Nimmo, who manages 150 STRA properties in the Shire, spoke against prohi
#Right2Housing - WHEN WILL WE MEET OUR OBLIGATIONS?
The Federal Election campaign has shone a light on the cost of housing and the plight of many across our society. The #Right2Housing is encapsulated in Article 11 of the United Nations’ International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR). Australia signed this declaration on 18 December 1972 (ratified 10 December 1975). Article 11: “The States Parties to the present Covenant recognize the right of everyone to an adequate standard of living for himself a
