Anti-holiday lets group gaining support
Things are getting serious down in Victoria where the We Live Here movement – set up to curb the unfettered spread of short-term lets into residential apartment blocks – has launched a…
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.
Hot air and cold facts as Sydney chills out with Airbnb
A Tribunal decision on Airbnb lets in Melbourne has sent a chill through permanent residents of apartment blocks here in Sydney but it also created a wave of optimism, if not opportunism,…
RANT: Tenants Union backs Airbnb couple in ‘sub-letting’ row
I have just read an article in the Age which in which the Tenants Union of Victoria supported the “right” of tenants to rent out their entire apartment on airbnb.…
Strata defence: Get your Airbnb by-laws in now
With the state government about to “do an Uber” on short-term and holiday letting, apartment owners need to get their act together if they don’t want to be swamped…
Drawing the line on holiday lets
There’s been a lot said and written about Airbnb-style short-term lets in apartment blocks – not least in this column – but where do you draw the line between enjoying…
Vic ruling opens door to short-term lets
A Victorian ruling that strata block owners corporations can’t create rules (by-laws) prohibiting apartments from being let short-term could have a devastating effect on high-rise residents across the country. The…
Why apartment residents love and loathe Airbnb
If there is one thing that the members and managers of owners corps both love and loathe in almost equal measure, it’s Airbnb Many of us love the online accommodation…
Wreckers smash short-term rentals insurance
Short-term and holiday letting hosts have been warned they could have no insurance cover if their homes are trashed by paying guests. The issue came to the fore last month…
Sounds of summer: ‘where’s my airbnb key?’
I’m sounding like a cracked record on this but the first signs of summer – exhausted travellers buzzing at the door demanding keys to their holiday rental – have set…
Short shrift for airheads
Melbourne city council were due to be back at the Building Appeals Board this past week, to re-argue their case that residential apartment blocks are no place for short-term holiday…
Short term lets threat from B’n’B website
A global social network-based room rental service is testing strata bans on short-term lets to breaking point. The Airbnb website has already caught the attention of councils in Sydney concerned…
Timber and tile floors
TIMBER, tiled and even polished concrete floors have become possibly the most consistently heated issue in the 15 years that Flat Chat has been in existence. In an old apartment…