THERE ARE THOUSANDS OF RENTAL HOMES, IF YOU ONLY STAY FOR A NIGHT OR TWO
According to yesterday’s Illawarra Mercury, there are plenty of rental homes – if you only want to stay for a couple of days. The article is for paid subscribers only, but one can guess the point they are making is that, according to AirDNA, the Shoalhaven/Illawarra region has 4,496 active holiday rentals. That is, 4,496 homes that have been removed from the housing supply and are now only available for short-term tourist/visitor rentals, at grossly inflated prices. The State MP for the South Coast is of course Shelley Hancock, who until December last year was the Minister for Local Government.
And, “AirDNA Data Accuracy is Right on the Money According to a New Airbnb Report”. So here are a few more housing stats to consider, courtesy of AirDNA. Firstly, a couple of neighbouring NSW regions, with a combined loss of 3,306 homes:
GREAT LAKES – 1,504 active short-term rentals – represented by Stephen Bromhead MP, Regional Housing Secretary
And,
PORT STEPHENS – 1,802 active short-term rentals – represented by Kate Washington MP
In 2013, Justice Rachel Pepper of the NSW Land and Environment Court castigated Gosford Council (now Central Coast Council) for the “abrogation of its fundamental duties and responsibilities”. These duties included, amongst other things, to manage development and coordinate the orderly and economic use of land within the area under its control. “The council, by its inaction, has…failed to fulfil its core functions and failed its constituents.” Justice Pepper went on to write, short-term rentals “offend and undermine the planning regime of the Gosford LGA and ultimately of the State. The harm caused to the environment is not limited to the undermining of the planning regime. The adverse impact on the amenity and wellbeing of (the neighbouring residents) has been, as the evidence overwhelmingly demonstrates, severe”.
Here is the current number of homes lost on the NSW Central Coast:
GOSFORD/WYONG – 2,771 active short-term rentals – represented by Liesl Tesch MP and David Harris MP
Neither the Minister for Planning and Housing, Anthony Roberts MP, nor his Executive Director, Housing and Economic Policy at the Department of Planning, will respond to our questions. Perhaps the Hon Shelley Hancock MP, the Hon Stephen Bromhead MP, the Hon Kate Washington MP, the Hon Liesl Tesch MP and the Hon David Harris MP might together approach their parliamentary colleague and his staff and seek assistance on behalf of homeless residents across New South Wales.
Anthony Roberts MP must immediately rescind Rob Stokes’ (Affordable Rental Housing) (Short-term Rental Accommodation) 2021SEPP. 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.
