The Greens Member for Ballina Tamara Smith MP has announced legislation for Short Term Holiday Letting that would empower local councils to regulate the industry whilst protecting the rights of owner-occupiers. Under the plan, each local council would have the power to determine its own conditions and restrictions on holiday lets, but with a caveat. Resident homeowners, who holiday let their whole homes for less than a prescribed number of days per year, would be exempt from the need to submit development applications.
"Local communities should be able to decide what's best for them when it comes to regulating holiday letting.” said Ms Smith.
“This isn’t about targeting folk who want to make some extra cash renting out their spare room on a share platform. This is about making sure that investors and developers, who don’t even live in our community, are subject to the same costs of compliance and standards as commercial accommodation providers.”
Byron Shire Acting Mayor Michael Lyon said: "In Byron Shire, Greens policy will see all whole-home holiday lets in residential areas being required to register with the Council. Investor holiday lets, where the owner is not resident, will require a DA and be subject to restrictions on days per year and commercial rates.”
“Deciding on the exact conditions for holiday lets in Byron Shire will require extensive community consultation and it’s likely that different conditions, in terms of night caps, would apply to different parts of the Shire. A register of holiday lets will be maintained locally to ensure compliance with the new regime.”
Tamara Smith said: “Housing stress is no joke in Byron when 40% of whole homes are on accommodation sharing platforms – where do we live? Where do workers and families live?
“Ensuring that our residential areas are able to house the workers and families of our Shire must be a top priority in order for us to have an equitable society. It is also very important that commercial operators are all subject to the same standards in their operations.”
ENDS