A BRIEF GUIDE TO WHERE WE’RE HEADING WITH AIRBNB
Airbnb’s Country Manager Sam McDonagh told ABC Radio National’s PM program (05JUN18):
“The NSW Parliament has effectively ‘green lit’ (sic) home sharing in NSW...”
Airbnb’s McDonagh also told The Australian newspaper:
“Australia is the most penetrated (Airbnb) market in the world.”
Airbnb’s Head of Global Policy and Communications Chris Lehane says he “welcomes restrictions” – what Ministers Anthony Roberts and Matt Kean claim is a “crack down” on Airbnb’s activities plus those of hundreds of other booking platforms.
Matt Kean’s Department has sent the briefest of messages, hoping that the community is reassured that our concerns have been heard and addressed. Here is what is proposed for NSW:
Allowing short-term holiday letting as exempt development 365 days per year when the host is present;
When the host is not present, a limit for hosts to rent out properties via short-term holiday letting of 180 days in Greater Sydney, with 365 days allowed in all other areas of New South Wales;
Councils outside Greater Sydney having the power to decrease the 365 day threshold to no lower than 180 days per year; and,
Certain planning rules will apply to properties on bushfire prone land.
No wonder Airbnb is happy. NSW Residents certainly aren’t. There is no platform accountability, no licensing oversight, no mandatory reporting or need to observe Residential Zoning etc. As one Resident wrote yesterday:
“The ‘Crack Down’ you have when you’re not having a crack down…a ‘Clayton’s Crack Down’.”
