Re: Just what we need – another crowd cashes in on the Airbnb boom

@Millie said:
All avenues have been pursued.  All avenues continue to be pursued.

So what was the response from the Ombudsman to allegations that the City of Sydney and other councils weren’t doing their job?

The position taken by ‘Millie’ and others with regards to short-term holiday rentals always refers back to legislation and the basis upon which Residents have purchased strata or property in R2 or R4 residential zones.  The position is based on legislation and consistent with that taken by the Accommodation Association of Australia.  

Fine – but it has achieved nothing in the big picture.  MPs and councillors have decided the laws are inconvenient and will change them.  Meanwhile, they will use the fact that they intend to change them as a reason for not enforcing them.

By way of contrast, Tourism Accommodation Australia’s position is (surprisingly) different; they are in partnership with Stayz/Expedia.  TAA is connected with the Australian Hotels Association (AHA), “the national voice of Australia’s hotel and liquor industry”.

I thought they had gone their separate ways a few months after they realised their aims were irreconcilably different.

By way of advice, ARAMA is hooking Expedia into big battle against any limits whatsoever on short-term letting in NSW.

No surprise there.  ARAMA has a much longer record in turning apartment blocks into holiday hotels than Airbnb.  Expedia just wants a foothold in the local market.

Members of the NSW Parliament never let up on how valuable short-term rentals are to our State Economy.  Minister Matt Kean refers repeatedly and only to a report volunteered by Airbnb.  State Parliament has written that they have not sought any legal advice…and they’re relying on figures from Airbnb? 

True.  So why do you imagine they aren’t interested in enforcing planning laws as they stand?  OCN didn’t create this situation – they dealt with it in an astonishingly effective way.  Again, we got the best outcome of any state in Australia.

And has anyone noted which MPs chose to abstain from voting on the Fair Trading Amendment Bill and indeed which MPs (with conflicts of interest) did indeed vote?

Go ahead – tell us.  I have no idea.  But MPs not voting isn’t always a sign that they don’t care – it’s often sending a message to their Party that they don’t have their wholehearted support.   

Our Members of Parliament must be called out on all the legislation they are ignoring, plus the fact that – particularly those in Strata – hold title deeds on residential property, plus there are Determination of Development Applications, which clearly state that our strata properties are for “permanent residential accommodation only and not for the purposes of a hotel, motel, serviced apartments tourist accommodation or the like“.  

You should never let “perfect” be the enemy of “good”. What you want – to turn back the clock to the black letter of planning laws – is unachievable IMHO.  Our Minister for Disappointment was within hours of announcing a no-limits allowance for short-term lets when he was pulled up by politicians in his own party who threatened a revolt if he didn’t include the strata by-laws provision promoted by OCN.

Think about it.  Only days before, his department was telling anyone daft enough to listen that by-laws restricting short-term lets would be invalid.  Now they’re to be the cornerstone of the proposed short-term letting legislation.

Our biggest battle right now is not to demand that the old laws be kept and enforced – that just won’t fly – but to ensure  the new ones aren’t undermined, diluted and eroded by Airbnb, Stayz and all their parasitic partners.

You are absolutely right about how we have been deprived of some of the rights we thought we’d bought with our properties.  However, you can send all the letters you want, but there are none so blind as those who will not see.

And just to be clear, the OCN isn’t your enemy just because they’re not standing on your barricade fighting your fight. 

And while what they have achieved isn’t going to help you in your situation – where a substantial majority of owners will vote against any by-laws – it offers hope to tens of thousands of us whose homes were about to be opened to unlimited numbers of tourists, despite the strong feelings of a majority of owners.

The war isn’t won yet.  You can bet that the STHL parasites will be working their butts off, trying to gee up the 25 percent votes needed to block the by-laws proposed for some of our key buildings.

Look out for a Fair Trading demand that all existing by-laws have to be put to another vote at a future AGM. They love Airbnb and will do whatever it takes to make life easier for them.

These are battles we should be fighting shoulder to shoulder and the OCN has proved they are the best people to lead the charge.