NSW passes Australia’s tightest Airbnb laws
Short-term holiday letting in NSW will have “tougher but fairer” regulation from 2019, after the state parliament passed the Government’s plan for the industry yesterday. Minister for Better Regulation…
Airbnb in strata
It’s not just Airbnb – it’s all short-term holiday letting (STL) in apartment blocks. But that California-based holiday letting internet site has become the generic term for this activity.
Now that there’s proof that it afffects residential rents – they go down when STLs go away – it will be interesting to see how state governments react when out borders are open. Expect lighter-touch, if any, restrictions to encourage tourism.
Disgust and despair as Vic Labor caves in to Airbnb
Anti short-term holiday letting community members in Victoria, furious at the Labor Government there for handing their homes over to Airbnb-style holiday rentals, have vowed to make the politicians pay…
Airbnb battle moves to Queensland … and Edinburgh
The debate over the spread of short-term holiday lets and the restriction on it – or lack of them – has quietened down a little in NSW with the announcement…
Just what we need – another crowd cashes in on the Airbnb boom
We received a press release last week from a UK-based company called Airsorted. They are promising to make it easier for you to let out – sorry, “share” – your…
‘Business as usual’ for Airbnb by-laws, says strata lawyer
With the announcement two weeks ago that legislation is going to be changed, allowing owners corporations to pass by-laws forbidding owners from listing their entire apartments on holiday letting websites,…
Airbnb furious as tenants claim survey was misconstrued
by Jimmy Thomson and Sue Williams The influential tenants’ group behind a study frequently used by Airbnb to justify the spread of short-term holiday letting in NSW says its research has been misconstrued by the…
Roundup: Airbnb’s MP mates offer a crumb of discomfort
Finally we get the Government’s short-term letting laws – or at least the proposals – and they turn out to be little more than a “surrender tackle” on Airbnb with a half-hearted and…
Sydney MP’s ‘quasi-hotel’ fears for city apartment blocks
Alex Greenwich, Independent Member for Sydney, welcomed moves towards a model that would give apartment communities some say on short term letting in their buildings, but said that changes do…
New Airbnb laws come with ’empty flat’ escape clause
After several false starts the NSW government has released its proposed changes to planning laws that will take the current restrictions off online holiday letting platforms like Airbnb. And while…
Clear signs the Airbnb battle has been lost
It looks very much like the NSW government is going to cave in to Airbnb bullies and follow the Victorian legislators down the road of a laissez faire attitude to…
One simple way to sack your strata chair
Strata stories are often like slapstick comedy – hilarious … provided you’re not the one lying face down in the custard. Recently Flat Chat fielded a question from a…
Roundup: Litigious lawyers, solar power and a ban on … guess who
A few of our recent featured posts have stimulated a lot of discussion here on the Forum. My comments about how some landlords won’t rent to lawyers was borne out…