Short term let threat from B’n’B website

A global social network-based room rental service is testing strata bans on short-term lets to breaking point.

The Airbnb website has already caught the attention of councils in Sydney concerned that private residences are being used as bed and breakfast accommodation, which may require change of use certification.

According to this story in the Sydney Morning Herald, councils have already threatened to fine owners who let rooms illegally.

”The City’s Local Environment Plan does not permit mixing permanent residential use with tourist and visitor accommodation models in the same building,” a City of Sydney council spokeswoman told Fairfax reporter Leesha McKenney.

City of Sydney has the highest concentration of apartment blocks in Australia.

The story mentions a complaint from neighbour in the strata scheme … and it’s in strata where the real battlefield will be.

The Airbnb concept is designed for people who want to travel cheaply and meet locals from the places they are travelling to.  Like website TripAdvisor it allows tourists to rate and comment on the places they stay.

The twist on Airbnb is that it also lets the hosts rate the guests.  Steal too many towels and toiletries and you might not get the stars you were hoping for.

Travellers who use Airbnb swear by it.  They can identify like-minded people who will both rent them a room and introduce them to the delights of their home city.

Their hosts can similarly pre-select their guests by checking their previous ratings.  It’s all so hip, now and Facebook friendly that it’s hard to see the flaws.

But how does letting rooms in your flat for a couple of nights sit with council bans on commercial enterprises and strata by-laws banning rentals of less than three months?

And if the listings are entire apartments in residential strata buildings, you have really crossed the short-term letting line.

Add the council concerns in Sydney to the stoush in Melbourne over party flats in apartment blocks, and you can see trouble brewing for Airbnb hosts in apartment blocks.

Check the website for listings in your area and you may be surprised to find how many entire units are available in buildings you thought were purely long-term residential.

What’s the difference? If you are letting a room in your home, you might think that’s mostly harmless since you are there to deal with any problems that might arise.

But if, under the guise of touchy feely social networking, you rent a vacant unit in a building that bans short-term lets, you are a strata parasite, plain and simple.

Too harsh?  Ask the people who find their homes being turned into hotels and the hotel workers who can’t find jobs because of opportunists who think loopholes in strata laws are there to be exploited.

What do you think of Airbnb in strata buildings?