Roundup: Who will stand up to the holiday letting liars?

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The evidence is stacking up that Airbnb and the other short-term letting agencies have persuaded the majority of our MPs that they should be allowed to operate unhindered by any concern for what they are doing to our fledgling communities. 

The brass neck of the Airbnb spin doctors is breath-taking.  Give us the same rules that they have in Tasmania, they say. It all works so well there. 

Really? People are living in tents while the government is offering landlords $13,000 to take their properties out of the short-term rental market and let them to low-income families … and they are still sticking with holiday lets, according to this story. 

Identifying the fundamental dishonesty that lies at the heart of the Airbnb case seems to be beyond the intellectual capacity of our elected officials, as I explain here. 

How can they be boosting the economy with the thousands of people they say are coming to Australia because of Airbnb and not affect the residential rental market? It’s supply and demand, stupid! 

But our MPs, led – it has been reported – by Fair Trading Minister Matt Kean, who has been pushing for zero limits on the number of nights airbnb properties can be let –  are undermining the whole basis of apartment living in this country. 

Bowing down to the false gods of airbnb, duped by their phony caring and sharing “gifts” – I wonder how elderly many people have actually received the $100 cash bonus for signing up new guests – our MPs have crumbled in front of empty threats that they might lose the votes of a few selfish apartment owners. 

What a lily-livered lot our MPs are, if they’re not prepared to tell these carpet-baggers to pack up their snake-oil and slither back to America (where they are in even more trouble for refusing to reveal the true extent of their booming business). 

And if you are just as disgusted as we are, be sure to sign Sydney MP Alex Greenwich’s petition or all this will be slid thought parliament without even a debate.   

Meanwhile, back in the real world, another raft of strata questions has docked in the safe harbour of the Flat Chat Forum. 

  • How can I support a noise-afflicted tenant without disrupting the harmony of our block? That’s HERE. 
  • How do I stop an owner from building a car space on common property without making myself a target for abuse? That’s HERE 
  • Does the 75 percent rule for by-laws apply when an issue only affects a minority of four owners, and three of them agree? That’s HERE. 
  • Is it right that the identity of someone who has made a complaint about me is kept confidential? That’s HERE. 
  • Where can I find a copy of the by-laws? That’s HERE. 
  • Neighbours have blocked my exclusive use parking space – and now they say it’s no longer mine as I’m unable to park on it. That’s HERE 
  • There are new questions and answers every day on the Flat Chat Forum.  Subscribe for free to avoid missing out. 

 

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