A GROUP against “non-accredited” short-term accommodation in residential areas says Airbnb listings are up by 300 per cent in some parts of the region.
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The Neighbours Not Strangers figures show Armidale had the biggest increase in the past two years, followed by Tenterfield with a 280pc boost and Tamworth with a 234pc hike.
It comes as local governments await an update on state planning reforms that could mean, among other changes, caps on the number of nights residences can be offered as short-term rentals.
Tamworth Regional Council (TRC) development and approvals acting manager, Lucy Walker, said the NSW Planning Department review was now in its final stages.
“We will not know what this may mean for local Airbnb operators until the review is finalised,” she said.
The NDL contacted Airbnb to cross-check the figures, which reflect listings from December of 2016, ’17 and ’18, but did not receive a response.
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Neighbours Not Strangers’ criticisms of what is often called home-sharing, through Airbnb and similar platforms, include homes taken off the rental market, inconvenience to neighbours, and danger to visitors and locals due to lacking the safety and security checks of commercial providers.
Convenor Trish Burt said such short-term stays also contravened zoning laws.
“Residential zoning is what it says: it’s for residential purposes. Short-term holiday lets are a commercial use of a residential dwelling,” Ms Burt said.
State and local government approaches to the status of Airbnbs are varied, and a new government framework aims to enable “STRA [short-term residential accommodation] to occur while also managing impacts on communities”.
Tenterfield Shire mayor Peter Petty said his approach to Airbnb-style accommodation was that “everyone in their own home is entitled to do what they want with it”.
“I think it’s a bit of a trendy thing and there’s a bit of a need for it, and that’s all good,” Cr Petty said.
He said the shire’s peak tourist periods included the Bavarian Music Festival & Beerfest and Oracles of the Bush – but there was also a steady flow due to the “four distinct seasons here”.
The Wallangarra and Tabulam bushfires had also boosted the need for accommodation.
“I just think it gives people a choice,” he said.
“We have over 1200 accommodation beds in Tenterfield, in a town of 3500 people. That’s just huge.
"That’s B&Bs, hotels, motels, the whole deal; it’s something we always praise.”
TRC business and community director John Sommerlad said that, “from a tourism perspective, Airbnb and derivatives of that are all part of the accommodation mix that is on offer to people”.
“Statistics show it’s become increasingly popular for property owners to offer their premises through those short-term holiday letting arrangements, and obviously there’s a market demand for that,” he said.
The Australian Taxation Office recently announced a crackdown on Airbnb hosts and drivers working for app-based services such as Uber, Uber Eats and Menulog, to ensure they were declaring their income from these sources.