Monthly short-term rental news roundup – October 2018
This month in short-term rental news – Byron Bay takes the offensive, Ireland passes some good laws, and STR security fears are real.
Here’s the scoop:
- Byron Bay cracks down on short-term stays in secondary dwellings. There are a lot of granny flats and basement units in Aussie beach towns that councils don’t know about, and short-term rentals are common in them. This puts stress on local housing and dodges local taxes.
- Ireland finally wises up and proposes good laws to control short-term letting, which is putting serious strain on Dublin’s affordable housing. The laws include a 90 day per year booking limit for a primary residence, and ban short-term rentals in investment units. Anything more and they’ll need planning permission. All STRs must be registered with the local authorities. Sounds like the laws BnbGuard proposed for NSW...
- Think security fears about short-term rentals are overblown? A previous Airbnb guest copied a key and used it to rob the next guest staying at the Parramatta property. This is what strata residents are worried about. Access fobs and keys can be easily copied, and short-term guests are just not vetted the way tenants are.
Western Australia will hold a parliamentary inquiry into short-term rentals. The Hotel Association is gearing up for a fight, but so is Airbnb. Augusta-Margaret River Shire and Busselton are particularly hard hit with STRs already. Expect a push on safety regulations and a tax, hopefully local registration systems too.
