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Hi Millie – I realise that you are passionate about this topic and I respect your zeal and determination.
Can I address your point that short term letting is a “commercial use of a residential home” with the following answer?
Every type of residential lease has a commercial aspect – be it a 3 month lease, or a 2 year lease. The mere fact that rent is paid does not change the classification from a residential to a commercial building. If this were so then almost every strata building in NSW would be a commercial building as almost all would contain tenants of some sort or another. A 1 month rental period is no less commercial in nature than a 3 month rental period, or a 2 year rental period.
Is a person (or a family) who is renting a property for 1 month, or 2 months and 29 days a less desirable person (or family) than one who rents that same property for 3 months or longer? I hope your answer would be ‘no’.
Isn’t it therefore the actual conduct of the person who is renting the property that creates the problem – not the tenure or the duration of the stay?
There are already conduct obligations in by-laws and the Act. The conduct obligations and enforcement process applies to everyone; owner occupiers, short term and long term tenants.