Brisbane

I hate airbnb. I live in a place in the US that depends on tourism that also has a bad housing shortage for locals who cannot find affordable rentals. Tourists come and pay the excessive prices to stay at airbnb places that should instead be used for long term rentals to the actual residents who live here. Tourists should go to hotels which are meant for them instead of wrecking the housing market.

I spent years being homeless because the little long term rentals that open up every so often have such high prices. I have stayed at places that were unpermitted since that's what I could afford, I cannot stress how awful it was being off-grid away from town with no transportation. No bathroom either. Power, outlets, etc. completely exposed. And when I finally got section 8 (after years of waiting for an opening and then years waiting for the selection to happen), no landlord would lower the price or even rent to someone using section 8 so I had to "network" to find someone that would let me rent with them as long as I illegally gave them extra money every month since they felt their property has more value than what section 8 covers, oh also lease says utilities included but you need to pay for your own utilities. Yeah every landlord I've had with section 8 has done that so far because section 8 pays more if utilities are included. We need rent control and airbnb banned asap. We are not doing OK.

Personally, I prefer an apartment that I have to clean myself, because it means I don't have to worry about random strangers coming in to my apartment all the time.

Hotels just don't work for me. They're completely disconnected from the location and people around them, and full of people just as unfamiliar with the surrounds as I am.

When I was in Puerto Iguazu in Argentina, if we'd have been in a hotel, we'd have been in a sculpted, serviced space completely disconnected from the town around it. Instead, we stayed in a tiny little apartment in the back streets of the town. We got to actually see and experience the place, in a way that would have been impossible with a hotel.

Even if changes like this become universal (and I hope they do) I'll likely to continue to use Airbnb over hotels when I can.

Needing proper planning approvals is a no-brainer. Technically, this has probably always been required, but they never bothered enforcing it. It's nice to see that that's going to change.

I strongly oppose the idea that it should need body corporate support. The body corporate should function to maintain and upgrade the property and its facilities. They shouldn't be able to tell you how you use your own apartment. They already have too much control over such things. My body corporate is actually really good, but our by-laws theoretically give it the power to say you can't dry your clothes on your balcony, and that's just not ok in my opinion. Allowing the body corporate to tell you what you can do with your apartment is very in keeping with the LNP's paternalistic attitude, and it's gross that they're using the current anti-Airbnb zeitgeist as an opportunity to reinforce that.

I don't know what I think about the property manager requirement. Guests at short stay should absolutely have someone they can call if something goes wrong. If that's all this means, no issue. But if there's some specific qualification or accreditation that person needs, or it has to be anything more than "phone number of a person who can authorise emergency repairs", it seems unnecessary.

As a separate point, my biggest question is: how is any of this going to affect temporary Airbnbs? The original selling point of Airbnb was that you can rent out your place while you're away on holiday, to help subsidise your trip. The article gives no indication of how people who use it in this way will be affected. I don't think it should mitigate the requirement that a guest be able to call someone in an emergency, but it should mean you don't need the same kind of planning approval and don't pay a higher rates fee. And it's a situation where the body corporate should absolutely have no control, even if someone were willing to give them power over more permanent Airbnbs.

Airbnb has a place when you want to rent a larger property. This used to be difficult and complicated. As a general rule I agree though. Airbnb is pretty shit compared to most hotels in most places.

This is the best summary I could come up with:

“If you are in an apartment building, and your neighbour wants to switch over to short-stay accommodation, the body corporate doesn’t have the power to effectively decide whether that can or can’t happen,” Schrinner said.

The demand for rentals has also skyrocketed, with Brisbane facing a 0.9% vacancy rate and rent prices have risen 9.3% over the past year.

As the housing supply crisis wreaks havoc across Australia, other states such as New South Wales are considering introducing a short-term accommodation levy to encourage owners to put their properties back on the long-term market.

Strata Community Association Queensland (SCAQ) general manager Laura Bos backed the council plan.

“This would allow, among other things, body corporate committees to pass a by-law prohibiting or restricting short-stay accommodation for non-owner occupiers,” she said.

“In response to the Brisbane City Council proposal to introduce a new permit on short-term rental accommodation (STRA) providers, Stayz encourages the council to wait for what we understand will be a state-led regulatory regime being implemented,” senior director of government and corporate affairs, Eacham Curry, said.

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