Sunshine Coast puts levy on short-term rentals
Big news from Sunshine Coast. The council is levying $387 minimum annual levy on short-term rentals, rising with property value. $7 a week isn’t much to pay for a full-time STR but a lot...
Author: Reuben Schwarz
The pop-up brothel sniff test for short-term rental rules
There’s a lot of uncertainty around how best to regulate short-term rentals. It’s a very new industry, growing quickly and no one really knows how best to deal with the negative consequences. Different cities...
Airbnb, Homeaway fight Santa Monica rules
Here’s an example of some tough short-term rental rules. Santa Monica forces Airbnb and Homeaway to verify hosts are registered with the city. Seems sensible? Not to Airbnb and Homeaway. They took the city...
Does NSW need rules for short-term rentals?
NSW had trouble coming up with a policy on short-term rentals, and its final version leaves a lot to be desired. Lost in the specific criticisms is a wider issue though – whether NSW...
Byron Bay seeks exemption from NSW short-term rental laws
Byron Bay wants to make its own laws to control holiday letting. The NSW Govt should let them and give other councils the same. Local councils need flexibility to deal with these problems, not...
The holiday letting numbers that really matter
This opinion piece highlights a number of issues with the lack of short-term rental regulation in NSW. Safety, community and commercialisation all need to be considered by any new laws. But we only need...
Should short-term rentals in stratas be opt-in?
An interesting proposal today from NSW MP John Sidoti – allowing short-term rentals in stratas should be opt-in, not opt-out. The idea that short-term rentals would be automatically barred in apartment buildings unless the strata votes...
Short-term rental statistics – Who to believe?
An interesting story today from Noosa News – Airbnb gave contradictory information to Noosa council about the number of listings in the shire, first claiming it was 590 then bumping it to 1100. Airbnb...
New Orleans bans most short-term rentals
Well that escalated quickly. New Orleans has been having trouble getting short-term rental sites to comply with its new rules (capping bookings at 90 days per year). It’s a classic case where Airbnb cooperated...
Affordable housing for rent on Airbnb
How much Australian Govt housing is on Airbnb and other short-term rental websites? We’ve seen one case of illegal subletting in Australia so far (in Sydney CBD) but this recent case in Boston suggests it’s...
