I heard the other day that I am running a campaign against short-term rentals. Well, I wasn’t but, hey, now that you mention it, it seems like a good idea.
First, let’s look at the facts. There is a loophole in property law that can make it difficult but far from impossible to prevent short-term rentals – that’s furnished and often serviced units let for periods as short as a few nights – in residential strata blocks.
Trying desperately to make sure that loophole isn’t closed, and simple common sense suggests it should be, is the short-term rentals lobby.
They insist Sydney needs more short-term units and that Australians have a right to rent apartments near the sea or in the city for their holidays. And they claim letting their apartments short-term is the only way poor people can afford to invest in the property market.
Run that past me again. Did they change the definition of “poor” when I wasn’t looking? And does the right to have a good time (and make money from people doing so) supersede the right to have a peaceful home?
Ask the sleepless residents whose neighbours one week might be hard-working business people but the next are just as likely to be a lucky dip of binge-drinking yahoos, wedding parties, sports fans on a road trip or even just boisterous families who don’t give a stuff about your peace and quiet, common property or by-laws.
OK, there is a demand for short-term rentals in this city. But dotted here and there throughout residential apartment blocks? Come on! That’s maximum misery for minimal benefit (except to the landlords and their agents).
If there really is a desperate need for these units, and if there really are all these poor people clamouring for investment opportunities, why doesn’t the short-term lobby sit down with developers and plan some tailor-made buildings with local council approval?
The simple answer is that short-term lets in residential buildings are better value for the landlords who benefit from all the good things in an established strata community while, ironically, undermining it and often driving owner-occupiers out.
I’m not against short-term rentals … except in buildings that were intended to be homes, not hotels. Let the campaign begin.
