Airbnb claims $12b boom, urges rural council support
Stephanie Gardiner |
Airbnb is courting country councils with its billion dollar credentials, just as it faces tougher crackdowns on holiday rentals amid the nation’s housing crisis.
The homestay accommodation giant is offering a toolkit for councils that helps develop ‘fair’ rules for short-stay rentals and provides data on visitor spending.
Airbnb will launch the toolkit at the Local Government Association’s national conference in Canberra, complete with figures showing its customers spent $12.4 billion in the year to March 2023.
Tourist dollars are largely injected into regional communities, with two-thirds of spending in NSW occurring outside Sydney, Airbnb’s Australian head of public policy Michael Crosby will tell the conference on Tuesday.
“The dispersal of tourists outside traditional holiday destinations means the benefits of tourism can be spread far and wide across Australia, in some cases for the first time,” Mr Crosby will say in a speech to mayors.
The booking platform’s operation also supported 94,000 jobs, from hospitality workers to cleaners and tradespeople, according to an analysis by Oxford Economics included in its toolkit.
The pitch at the conference, where Airbnb is a sponsor, comes as Australia’s regions grapple with a severe housing shortage, a burden often shouldered by councils.
The NSW government is reviewing short-term rental accommodation policies as one way to improve housing supply and affordability.
Its discussion paper said the undersupply of housing was increasing house prices, leading to concern that holiday homes were removing long-term rentals from the market.
There is a 180-day limit on properties to be used for non-hosted short-term stays in parts of Sydney, the Clarence Valley, Muswellbrook and Ballina in the NSW Northern Rivers.
A new cap of 60 days per year will be introduced in the Byron Shire, excluding Brunswick Heads and parts of inner Byron Bay, from September.
Byron Shire Council has been vocal about having a balance between holiday and long-term rentals, particularly after catastrophic floods in 2022.
“We have always maintained that limiting (short-term rental accommodation) will not solve our housing problem,” mayor Michael Lyon said of the cap earlier this year.
“But we expect we will see more properties available for long-term rentals as a result of the restrictions.”
However, the state government’s discussion paper said there was limited evidence to suggest home owners would make their properties available for long-term rental as a response.
In its submission to the state government’s review, Airbnb proposed the removal of caps in favour of tourism levies to support local social and affordable housing projects.
A 7.5 per cent tax on platforms like Airbnbs and Stayz comes into effect in Victoria next year, while Brisbane will require owners to have permits to operate Airbnbs.
Housing is set to be a major theme at the local government national summit, which kicks off with a regional forum on Tuesday.
Newly sworn-in governor-general Sam Mostyn is due to address the conference on Wednesday, along with Local Government Minister Catherine King.
AAP
