Illawarra residents can have their say regarding the regulation of the short-term holiday letting industry.
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In 2016, the NSW Legislative Assembly Committee on Environment and Planning conducted an inquiry into the adequacy of regulation for short-term holiday letting in NSW, including services like Airbnb and Stayz.
The state government is now seeking community and stakeholder feedback after Friday’s release of an Options Paper on STHL.
Potential options the government is seeking views on include industry self-regulation, such as a code of conduct, complaints management, education, monitoring and reporting; and strata regulation, including by-laws managing visitor behavior, by-laws for compensation for adverse effects and by-laws prohibiting STHL.
Other potential options are limiting the length of stays and number of days per year that a dwelling can be used as STHL. Registration or licensing to manage safety and amenity issues is another option.
Woonona resident John Arnold said he lives “next to a holiday house, or I should say party house”.
“I’ve got no problems with people renting their houses out,” he said. “But if people are going to rent out these properties, they’ve got to be a bit more accountable for the people that stay in there.
“The house sleeps 10 so therefore majority of the time there are eight or more cars trying to park out the front of the house or in the driveway… Sometimes I can’t even park out the front of my own house.
“The house has a policy of no parties, bucks nights, hens nights, and also has rules with noise after a certain time.
“I have witnessed many bucks and hens nights complete with strippers and the trimmings that go with that sort of behaviour. The behaviour sometimes is way out of control and continues well into the early morning.”
Currently only 12 NSW councils have rules enabling home owners to lease properties for short-term stays via sites like Airbnb.
Others don’t have the provisions to regulate the industry, or have rules making short-term accommodation sharing illegal.
The paper is now available online for feedback until October 31.
