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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 alarm bells ringing in a friend’s building.
Sure enough, checking the Airbnb website, we found a two-bedroom unit for over $360 a night, minimum two nights – despite a by-law in the upmarket, iconic block that says residents can’t let apartments for less than three months at a time.
The listing also ignores a ‘permanent residential only’ council zoning so, on two counts, it’s in breach of Airbnb’s own rule that you must be allowed to let your property.
So how do you inform Airbnb that your building is off limits and someone is ignoring the law – and Airbnb rules – in order to make a killing on a unit that should be available on the residential rental market?
After digging around their website in vain for a contact address or phone number, then hassling the wrong people, I was given the email address response@airbnb.com and assured messages to it would be seen at head office.
Drop them a line if your building is affected. I’ll keep you posted on my cage rattling efforts on the Forum.
The opinions offered in these Forum posts and replies are not intended to be taken as legal advice. Readers with serious issues should consult experienced strata lawyers.
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From the airbnb Sydney office:
As the world’s leading community driven hospitality company, we’re excited to be such a big part of how people travel in Australia.
Of course, we advise hosts to follow their locally set rules and regulations when listing on Airbnb, and these often differ from council to council, street to street. Around the world, we’re seeing cities and countries pass new laws that enable home sharing, and we’ll continue to work with governments for progressive, fair regulation.
Local communities should make rules that work for them, but we also need basic ground rules to ensure regular people can share the home in which they live with visitors and friends.
The fact that the majority of our listings are outside of the main hotel areas means a significant boost to local businesses that traditional tourists just don’t visit. Our hosts represent a diverse group that vary in age, occupation, household type and income. The majority of which rent the home they live in occasionally and earn a modest income from it. Our research tells us this income makes a real difference though – with about 50% being spent on essential living expenses such as mortgage repayments, electricity bills and groceries.
In terms of getting in touch with us – our ‘contact us’ feature on the site is staffed 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and we take feedback about breaches to our policies very seriously.
I think they gave you the proverbial finger JimmyT.
So airbnb, where is the simple form that Owner’s Corporations can fill in which stops people registering airbnb lets in their building? Airbnb lets & their ilk violates the development consent for our building never mind the added stress on our amenties & common areas which airbnb hosts do not pay for. Insurance, security & fire regulations are other concerns.
Plenty of accommodation available in our neck of the woods from luxury to budget. We are not outside of the main hotel/backpackers/b&b area.
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