Monthly news roundup – August 2018
This month in short-term rental news – lots of hosts are tenants, Airbnb declares war on New York, Victoria and NSW pass bad laws and Mornington Peninsula passes some good ones.
Here’s the lowdown:
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Lots of action this month in Australian STR legislation.
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The NSW bill passed pretty much as it was in its original version, and comes into effect next year. The rules have some good points but are very weak and a disappointment for stratas. A key point next year will be telling investor STR (bannable) apart from owner-occupier STRs (not bannable).
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Victoria passes a gutless set of rules with only a code of conduct. Nothing to let stratas in downtown Melbourne actually stop horrible things happening next door.
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Mornington Peninsula’s council enacts some great STR rules, mandating a strict code of conduct to crack down on party houses and a registration system. More councils need rules like this to make their communities liveable again.
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New York City passed laws last month demanding all STR platforms hand over the real names, addresses and booking activity of all listings. Because about two-thirds of the listings are thought to be illegal. How did Airbnb react? A lawsuit of course. They’re fighting this tooth and nail because a similar law in San Fran cut their listings there in half overnight. Profits over people.
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One question customers ask us a lot is “What can I do when you find STRs in my building?” For starters, many of them are put up by tenants and are therefore illegal, so can be stopped right away. Here’s a study showing 35% of STR hosts are renting the place they’ve put online. Our own estimates show that in some parts of Sydney and Melbourne, over 50% of listings are by tenants.
