Operations are being quietly handled within the walls of the NSW Department of Planning. The onslaught of short-term rentals will be given free reign from 01 November – in 10 days time. If one goes searching, searching, searching the DPIE’s website, one could stumble across a news item published yesterday, reminding anyone holding keys to residential housing in NSW to ‘register their short-term rentals’. In a statement, Planning Minister Rob Stokes is quoted as saying, “ru

Former NSW Nationals and Labor Leaders, John Barilaro and Jodi McKay, can thank Planning Minister Rob Stokes; their retirement gigs - short-term rentals - could now be 'legal'. News today that former NSW State Labor Leader Jodi McKay is quitting politics, becoming the fifth State MP to leave Parliament in the last two weeks. Mckay can now quietly move on to managing full time her Kia Ora Lookout Retreat Airbnb *Licence number PID-STRA-583, taking over from husband Stephen Fe

‘Airbnb kicks mysterious illegal van renter to the curb’ – so says the New York Post: “After renting bogus, unregistered vans on the streets of New York for two years, Airbnb says: 1. We now provide anonymous data to the city, which is totally useless 2. We kicked them off the platform AFTER the city shut them down, and 3. Thanks for the profits, SEE YA!” Of course, this is a ‘copycat’ scam, where “Airbnb vans were turning Sydney’s Northern Beaches into a sewer”. Nowhere in

“Fury at reports of Labour leader’s holiday home on Airbnb”…yells the Irish press. “The public have reacted furiously to reports of (the MP’s) holiday home on Airbnb being advertised for short-term letting” …“the biggest scandal to come from that is that, in the middle of a housing crisis, (the MP’s) second home is available for short-term letting on Airbnb”. If only we were able to learn how many of our NSW MPs, aside from John Barilaro and Jodi McKay, have Airbnb rentals.

The Merimbula News last month reported on how the plight of the homeless in the Bega Valley brought councillors to agreement on the need for housing action. “…homeless people sleeping rough in the streets, desperate families asking for help, and workers unable to accept a job in the Bega Valley because they can’t find a home, prompted agreement on a multilateral approach at the August 4 council meeting.” Greens Councillor Cath Griff formed and chaired a local affordable ho

The SMH’s senior economics writer Jessica Irvine sets out today how, only two years after purchasing her first home and thanks to sky rocketing property prices, she now finds herself with enough equity to borrow and purchase an investment property: “Quite why I’m allowed to enjoy all this $400,000 gain – for which I did not life a finger – entirely free of tax, I’m not sure. But I am – such is the state of Australia’s utterly nonsensical and amoral property market…I’ve just

In a 2013 NSW Parliament ‘Briefing Paper’ under ‘Ministerial Discretion’, it states: “The Minister and Director-General of the Department of Planning are able to exercise a number of planning functions under the Exposure Bills. The breadth of Ministerial powers specified in the draft legislation has proven controversial, with several stakeholders commenting on a perceived lack of oversight or accountability. Significant powers available to the Minister include: …The power

In a recent Facebook post, we wrote that multiple NSW MPs had had their short-term rentals captured on NSW Land and Environment Court Orders that included a Penal Notice, MPs John Barilaro and Jodi McKay are our most high profile State MPs engaged in (what legal counsel for the City of Sydney writes is an) “illegal use of premises”, and that Planning Minister Rob Stokes has used ministerial discretion to change NSW legislation so that short-term rental activity is now ‘comply

Yesterday, US short-term rental giant Expedia Group, under the flag of VRBO, announced their 2021 Stayz ‘Best Holiday Homes in Australia’. Quicker than a speeding bullet, Airbnb presented its ‘Meet the Finalists’ so one could ‘explore top Hosts, listings and Experiences across the country’. And perhaps to squash any media mileage gifted to Stayz, within 24 hours Airbnb Inc whipped up their list of winners! Careful to maintain their fib of ‘Moms and Pops’ earning a few doll

American vacation rental online operator, VRBO, based in Austin Texas and part of the Expedia Group, has emailed many of us, announcing its 2021 Stayz Holiday Home Award winners (and other finalists). In limp imitation of the Olympics: Gold: Barra Luxe Beach House – 5 Andrew Street, Point Arkwright, QLD. Sunshine Coast Regional, House - Primary Land Use Single Unit Dwelling Silver: Nord House – 18 Baynes Road, Red Hill South, VIC. Mornington Peninsula Council, House - Primar