Short-term accommodation changes, short-term solution?      

Every few months, we hear from a new expert with a new idea about how to fix the Housing Crisis

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Locking out foreign investors, opening up superannuation, and giving government guarantees to young buyers are just a few of the many approaches tried in recent times. 

Now, cracking down on AirBnb and short-term rental accommodation is being put forward as a solution, especially here in Kiama. 

As The Bugle’s Brendon Foye has covered, the State Government has announced a review into short-term rental accommodation – to be led by Housing Minister Rose Jackson - after identifying 90,000 short-term homes rentals and holiday houses that could be freed up for the long-term rental market. 

As Brendon points out, more than five per cent of homes in the Kiama LGA are short-term rentals – among the highest proportions in New South Wales. 

It's little wonder Mayor Neil Reilly supports the State Government’s review. 

It’s also not surprising to see Deputy Mayor Imogen Draisma raise concerns about long-term rentals being turned into short-term rentals.

“We have seen stories from locals, particularly over the COVID period, where people who’ve lived in long-term rentals for many years were told that they were going to be evicted at the end of their lease, and the purpose would be that [the property] becomes a short term rental accommodation”, she told the Illawarra Mercury. 

Of course, AirBnb is pushing back.

Airbnb’s Head of Public Policy, Michael Crosby, told The Sydney Morning Herald last month that the “overwhelming majority of New South Wales hosts – 85 per cent – only list one property on Airbnb”. 

According to Crosby, policymakers should instead be looking at the more than a million empty dwellings across the country as a possible fix. 

It's The Bugle’s view that the State Government’s review makes sense - we’re well and truly up for a conversation about whether short-term accommodation is good for Kiama. On the one hand, short-term accommodation is part of our tourism industry which contributes hundreds of jobs and more than $200 million into our economy. On the other, it is possibly constraining the supply of more than 546 homes into the owner-occupied or traditional rental market.

At the very least, the more conversation about the Housing Crisis, the better. 

The scale and seriousness of the Housing Crisis means we need to look at all possible solutions.

As we’ve said before, it’s The Bugle’s view that locals need more choice; that the best way of improving affordability is increasing supply, and the most obvious way of increasing supply is building more homes.  

What do you think? Has Airbnb gone too far? Write to The Bugle and let us know your thoughts.