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Are you sick of reading about Airbnb? Me too. I for one will be so glad when the whole online holiday letting debate is put to bed.
That said, unfettered short-term letting is one of the most potent threats to the way we live in StrataLand – a much more real threat than the faint possibility of cladding fires – and we need to keep the bastards honest.
The holiday letting agencies are launching their big bucks campaign to convince the majority of state MPs (most of whose constituents are not affected) to sell the rest of us down the river.
Sorry, did I say “sell”? Of course, I mean “rent” … sorry … “share”.
Yes, they want every apartment owner to be able to “share” YOUR common property with THEIR paying guests. Cosy!
So expect lots of soft-focus advertising and glowing, largely unedited features in newspapers extolling the life-saving virtues of holiday letting.
However, for a slightly different view, tonight (Tuesday 24th) Sydney MP Alex Greenwich, fresh from leading the Yes campaign for same-sex marriage, will host a “town hall” style public meeting about holiday letting in parliament.
It’s aimed at presenting the facts and cutting through some of the spin and BS pumped out by the global holiday letting corporations. Tickets are limited but I think there may still be one or two available here on the OCN Website.
Meanwhile I received a Press release today from MadeComfy – a company that cleans your flat, changes the sheets, hands over the keys and generally makes it easier for you to perform the physical impossibility of “sharing” your apartment without having to actually meet the people you are sharing it with.
MadeComfy, who boast that they manage $400 million in properties in Australian cities for holiday letting hosts, wrote to let us know they have hopped into bed with Stayz (the other online holiday letting giant).
Apparently they share the view that new laws should make it easier for us to deal with badly behaved hosts and guests once our homes have been turned into hotels.
I responded with two questions:
Do they believe that apartment owners who bought on the basis that their units were residential only (as per their council zoning) should be allowed to pass by-laws enforcing that zoning?
Or do they think that individual unit owners should be able to subvert their planning regulations and the wishes of the vast majority of their neighbours in order to make the maximum profit from their properties?
So far, silence, but I’ll keep you posted on their response.
By the way, I will be making a major confession live on air on James Valentine’s afternoon show on
Friday (Oct 27th) at 2pmMonday, October 30 at 2.30pm – or you can catch it as a podcast, later, right here.Finally, it’s been a lively week on the Forum and here’s a sample of some of the topics that have had us scratching our heads and stroking our chins.
- Can the chairperson rule out strata committee motions because they aren’t likely to fly (because they are a bit daft)? That’s HERE.
- What can you do about determined efforts by a minority to disrupt committee meetings? That’s
- An oldie but a goodie – what do you do about a clapped out aircon unit installed on common property, without proper permission, by a previous owner who is now long gone? That’s
- Strata manager has attacked owners for complaining about an neighbour who parks illegally in visitor parking. That’s HERE.
- Can absent committee members pass their votes on to others who turn up for the meetings? That’s HERE.
As ever, there will be even more by the time you read this. Don’t miss out.
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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Hi Jimmy,
Sarah here, PR for MadeComfy. Please see following for the responses to your questions from MadeComfy founders Quirin Schwaighofer and Sabrina Bethunin.
Do they believe that apartment owners who bought on the basis that their units were residential only (as per their council zoning) should be allowed to pass by-laws enforcing that zoning?
From Sabrina:
We are very respectful of strata regulations and we don’t manage apartments where there is a by-law restriction in place. We are waiting for the new regulations issued by the NSW Government and we will respect those decisions.
We believe property owners have the right to make decisions on how to use their asset and get the best return as well as have the flexibility on the way they can utilise their assets.
We are respectful of the legislation and strata regulation, and our point of view is based on our experience managing multiple properties in buildings as well as stand-alone properties. In our experience when a property is professionally and properly managed, short term as well as long term rentals work without causing any disruption in the community. We have numerous successful stories where property owners have benefited from having the flexibility to use their properties as they need.
From Quirin:
Being a long-term renter myself as well as an Air BnB host and Air BnB guest, I am a strong believer that regulations need to be in place for short-term renting, as there are for long-term letting.We see that people invest in property for two main reasons, a) to live in it themselves (and build wealth) or b) to make a profit and build wealth by renting it out.
There is no question that everyone in Australia should have the right to live (and travel) feeling safe and without facing disturbances. It is tricky to argue that person who lives in an apartment for more than three months is less of an issue than a tenant who lives there for one month, or two weeks, etc. Also, we ask why does an area need to be classified as commercial when a tenant lives there for less than three months, when in both situations the property is used to house residents and to generate a rental return for the owner.
When we look at the root cause of issues, it comes down to regulations and each community’s expectations of behaviour. It’s how these rules are followed by residents and how these rules are enforced when they’re not followed. This is where legislation needs to catch up and we fully support this.
Or do they think that individual unit owners should be able to subvert their planning regulations and the wishes of the vast majority of their neighbours in order to make the maximum profit from their properties?
From Sabrina:
One of the reasons property investors invest in property is to generate a profit, and this could be in the form of long term rental, capital gain, and also short term rentals. There are a number of property investors – especially in Sydney – who are under mortgage stress due to the rising property prices in Sydney combined with decreasing yields. The struggle of a negative cash flow can make it difficult for people to meet their mortgage payments. In other markets like Brisbane and Perth the situation is even worse where some property values have decreased, and there’s a terrible combination of capital loss and negative cash flow.Again, we respect the legislation and but we also think property investors should have the opportunity and flexibility to make decisions on how they want their assets to be utilised and their yields maximised within the legal framework.
Quirin:
You asked about our opinion of by-laws and zoning. It comes down to the definition of zones and I will leave that to the highly qualified and informed representatives of our government. I personally do agree that building communities should have the right to influence the rules of their building by majority (+75%) vote. I also agree that these rules be enforced.
Should building communities be able to restrict an owner to rent out his/her property? I personally do not agree with that. We manage more than over 300 properties in Sydney, many of them are in multi-apartment complexes. We always work together with building management and neighbours to ensure they understand the house rules we communicate to guests (most of the time stricter than the by-laws of the building), and to ensure they understand how to contact us should there be any issue.
Having welcomed more than 15,000 guests we have had one complaint over the last two years. This was from a neighbour of an apartment we manage in Darlinghurst. Our guest was making loud noise after 10pm. The neighbour contacted us the next day and we asked the guest to leave, as we were not comfortable with the behaviour. A year later, one of our guests locked herself out of the same apartment, leaving her wallet and phone inside. The same neighbour saw it happening and offered her his phone to contact us, he also lent her some money for the bus so she could make her trip to the Hunter Valley.
This is just an example of how it really comes down to setting standards around guest behaviour, communicating clear rules and building relationships with communities.
Are short stay tenants any different to long stay tenants when it comes to having to notify the body corporate of who they are and the penalties which can apply under the bylaws if information is not provided within 2 weeks. At present for short stay tenancies no information is supplied to the various body corporates and a series of $500 fines to the owner would I suspect slow down or stop the Airbnb rot.
Also have any body corporates gone down the user pays path and had separate rules for short stay tenants for use of facilities with the additional charges having to be met by the relevant owner?
Short stay tenants are a disaster for most buildings, they contribute nothing, decrease amenity and increase costs and the challenge will be to find a way of costing and then imposing the real costs on the users which will remove the current super profits from the various schemes or at the least reduce the imposition.
Great idea Arn. If you cannot stop them then make them pay more for the extra use of the facilities.
A warning on Airbnb. Last year we sold our 3 bad unit on Sydney Harbour. The online advertisement and pictures were posted in the morning and early that afternoon the agent went on line to check how they looked. He was shocked to see someone had copied the pictures and placed them in an Airbnb online advertisement. It took at least 24 hours to find the contact details for Airbnb and have them removed. What a scam. What would have happened if the agent hadn’t checked? Has anyone else been scammed like this?
Hi JohnH
Yes indeed. There’s a building near me (Sydney CBD). I pointed out to one resident an Airbnb listing in their property. The resident gave the link to their building manager. The apartment @ $2,500/night on Airbnb is a scam. Photos came from a sale listing so they have the furniture of the previous owner. Most of the photos are of the interior of an apartment subsequently purchased and now owned by a City of Sydney councillor. The councillor is aware of the listing.
Funny, some of the other photos on the listing are of a different apartment in the same building.
The link has been sent to Airbnb cowboys Brent Thomas and Sam McDonagh here in Sydney. The building is strictly ‘residential only’. They’ve done feck all about it.
The listing is still there.
Scambnb…
As a cleaning company, we’ve cleaned for a number of airbnb hosts and from my experience, there is no way I would like my tenant sharing my apartment on Airbnb.
The amount of additional wear and tear on the property would make it unsustainable to keep them as a tenant.Hope for the sake of homeowners everywhere they don’t let this through.
What’s next? Are we also going to legalise those unauthorised boarding houses which cram dozens of overseas students into a small apartment?
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