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 – ‘Average Daily Rate’ $265-$328.
Geoffrey Bott, owner of Blue Mountains Getaways – 57 Airbnb listings – reportedly told the Blue Mountains Gazette the NSW Department of Planning regulations on short-term rentals “has been poorly thought out – the system is not designed to cope with restriction…If you have been renting your property out for say 220 nights and you have been doing this for years, it is an unreasonable and unfair restriction of trade to cut it back to 180 nights”. According to Mr Bott, “you will get advice from the Department of Planning and will have to manually close down all available dates in your system – and that’s providing they are all synchronised. If you are doing this all manually it’s a complete pain”. He told the publication, “a group of Byron Bay holiday let owners have mounted a court case protesting the limit”.
The Blue Mountains Gazette quotes a spokesperson for the Department of Planning and Environment – we kid you not:
“Our Short-Term Rental Accommodation policy provides consistency to a previously unregulated industry, and balances the positive economic impacts of holiday homes with the need to support local housing markets, and improves housing availability and affordability…”
Blue Mountains Escapes, located in Blackheath, is a “licensed Agent specialising in holiday accommodation only”. Sue Still is Senior Property Manager – Holiday Rentals. According to her Linkedin profile, she “purchased Blue Mountains Escapes in 2009 then sold the business and (is) now working for the new owners”. The company lists 30 homes on its website – 27 Airbnb listings.
Accommodated, have 25 holiday rentals (24 listed on Airbnb). Run by ‘Heidi & Luke’, contact is via ‘phone, sms and email’ only.
Located in Kurrajong Heights is iRIS Property. Currently they have no homes available for residential tenancies however, they do operate 24 homes as holiday rentals – all 24 are listed on Airbnb.
We could of course expand on this list; suffice to say…
Airbnb refuses to publish the address of homes operating as unstaffed commercial hotels in residential areas. Blue Mountains Getaways has been featured in the mainstream media, so we thought we would print the addresses of their commercial rentals. (Airbnb could point to any errors?) We might also ask the Department of Planning to check the license numbers listed to verify that these are correct.
BLUE MOUNTAINS GETAWAYS:
Airbnb – 28 The Spires - PID-STRA-108 – 28/100 Luera Mall, Leura
Airbnb – Allambee - PID-STRA-110 – 67 Cascade Street, Katoomba
Airbnb – Arcadia Cottage - PID-STRA-113 – 31 Kamillario Road, Katoomba
Airbnb - Baileys Retreat - PID-STRA-114 – 19 Wentworth Street, Leura
Airbnb – Berdea - PID-STRA-115 – 56 Grose Street, Leura
Airbnb – Boobook Hollow - PID-STRA-116 – 66 First Avenue, Katoomba
Airbnb – Brigalow Cottage - PID-STRA-117 – 99 Megalong Street, Leura
Airbnb – Shirri Mirri - PID-STRA-118 – 108 Sublime Point Road, Leura
Airbnb – Bunyip Cottage - PID-STRA-118 – 11 Selby Street, Katoomba
Airbnb – Carinya Cottage - PID-STRA-119 – 19 Albion Street, Katoomba
Airbnb – Clervaux Cottage - PID-STRA-120 – 214 Govetts Leap Road, Blackheath
Airbnb – Cooee Cottage - PID-STRA-122 – 22 Minyago Street, Blackheath
Airbnb – Leura Fairways West - PID-STRA-126 – 19 Fitzroy Street, Leura
Airbnb – Leura Fairways East - PID-STRA-126 – 19 Fitzroy Street, Leura
Airbnb – Garden Cottage - PID-STRA-127 – 21 Herbert Street, Leura
Airbnb – Geebung Cottage - PID-STRA-128 – 74 Carlton Street, Katoomba
Airbnb – Golfers Delight - PID-STRA-129 – 41 Cedar Street, Katoomba
Airbnb – Highview - PID-STRA-131 – 21 West Street, Leura
Airbnb – Jarara Cottage - PID-STRA-132 – 77 Peckmans Road, Katoomba
Airbnb – Keira Cottage - PID-STRA-133 – 21 Lett Street, Katoomba
Airbnb – Kits Coty - PID-STRA-134 – 47 Lurline Street, Katoomba
Airbnb – Lavender Cottage - PID-STRA-135 – 2/9 Chelsford Avenue, Blackheath
Airbnb – Minnehaha - PID-STRA-138 – 49 Fifth Avenue, Katoomba
Airbnb – Moonya Lodge - PID-STRA-140 – 10 Beaufort Avenue, Mount Victoria
Airbnb - Narrow Neck Lodge - PID-STRA-141 – 41 Narrow Neck Road, Katoomba
Airbnb – Observatory Cottage - PID-STRA-142 – 94 Rawson Parade, Leura
Airbnb – Pin High - PID-STRA-144 – 2/9 Chelmsford Avenue, Blackheath
Airbnb – Pretty Haven - PID-STRA-145 – 8 Coomassie Street, Leura
Airbnb – Ruki Maja - PID-STRA-146 – 1A Bourne Street, Wentworth Falls
Airbnb – Scribbly Gum - PID-STRA-147 – 40 Rawson Parade, Leura
Airbnb – Selah Cottage - PID-STRA-148 – 110 Cliff Drive, Katoomba
Airbnb – Snug Cottage - PID-STRA-150 – 9 Stuarts Road, Katoomba
Airbnb – Solitary View - PID-STRA-151 – 16 Somerville Street, Wentworth Falls
Airbnb – Summer House - PID-STRA-152 – 90 Fletcher Street, Wentworth Falls
Airbnb – Sunnyside - PID-STRA-153 – 17A Neal Street, Katoomba
Airbnb – Sunrise House - PID-STRA-154 – 5 Ferguson Avenue, Hazelbrook
Airbnb – Swanbrook - PID-STRA-155 – 10 Chatsworth Road, Mount Victoria
Airbnb – Tranquil Haven - PID-STRA-156 – 45 West Street, Katoomba
Airbnb – Wentworth Rose - PID-STRA-158 – 19A Blaxland Road, Wentworth Falls. 2782
Airbnb – White Cottage - PID-STRA-159 – 34 Nelson Avenue, Wentworth Falls
Airbnb – Wisteria Cottage - PID-STRA-160 – 4 Kundibar Street, Katoomba
Airbnb – Bluebell Cottage - PID-STRA-170 – 61 Mount Street, Leura
Airbnb – Yellow Cottage - PID-STRA-13637 – 13 Dulhunty Street, Katoomba
Airbnb – Studio Four - PID-STRA-20515 – 4/7 Westend Street, Katoomba
Airbnb – Scenic Cottage - PID-STRA-24023 – 107 Cliff Drive, Katoomba
Airbnb – Grey Gum Lodge - PID-STRA-28705 – 9 Grey Gum Drive, Woodford
Airbnb – Studio 92 - PID-STRA-30335 – 92/100 Leura Mall, Leura
Airbnb – Apartment 91 - PID-STRA-30337 – 91/100 Leura Mall, Leura
Airbnb – Whispering Pines - PID-STRA-30341 – 29 Stuarts Road, Katoomba
Airbnb - Leura Country Cottage - PID-STRA-30701 – 9 Balmoral Road, Leura
Airbnb – Luxmi Vasal - PID-STRA-33122 – 28 Second Avenue, Katoomba
Airbnb – Dreamwood - PID-STRA-34715 – 64 Waratah Avenue, Katoomba
Airbnb – Amour Lodge - PID-STRA-34892 – 12 Jamieson Street, Leura
Airbnb – Horseshoe Falls Cottage - PID-STRA-35168 – 59A Oaklands Road, Hazelbrook
Airbnb - Sieberi Escape - PID-STRA-35628 – 31 Essendene Road, Kayoomba
Airbnb – Mountain Nest - PID-STRA-36154 – 5 Norwood Street, Leura
Airbnb – Magpie Cottage - PID-STRA-36271 – 13 Coomonderry Street, Leura
The Minister responsible for Planning and Homes in New South Wales – Anthony Roberts – must immediately rescind Rob Stokes’ (Affordable Rental Housing) (Short-term Rental Accommodation) 2021. Local Councils must be mandated to enforce residential planning, zoning or approval to prevent short-term commercial letting of housing. The proliferation of these properties is a huge problem for housing affordability/availability, for neighbouring residents and for legitimate tourism accommodation providers.
Homes not Hotels Communities not Transit Zones #Right2Housing People before Profits
Neighbours not Strangers
