Real Estate THURSDAY, JULY 8 , 2020 FROM COAST TO
COUNTRY
WWW.TWEEDVALLEYWEEKLY.NET.AU
Holiday lets are booming but not in a good way
By Matthew Kruzmetra WHILE RESIDENTS around the Tweed are grappling with rising rents and property values, the market for short term holiday rentals is booming. A precursory search by The Weekly on the popular website, Airbnb, has found some unscrupulous examples of people cashing in on the increased demand. One such example uncovered by The Weekly is not much more than a tent in someone’s backyard, costing $40 a night and described as “a tranquil glamping experience”. Glamping of course denotes a glamorous camping experience, and although the listing includes access to a “private bathroom” and a “cozy sitting area”, it’s hard to see any glamour in the photos online. Another listing that drew our attention is basically just an old campervan parked on a Tweed property, costing an impressive $55 a night. Photos of the campervan depict an old mattress.
The walls inside the van appear to be covered by graffiti, with the listing describing it as having “a unique paint job”. The current boom in short term rental accommodation in the regions comes on the back of data released in June by analytics company, CoreLogic, that shows price growth in the regional housing market jumping an average of 17.7 per cent, compared to 12.4 per cent in capitol cities over the last financial year. The Tweed has seen some of the largest increases in the country, with data showing house prices rising an average of 21.9 per cent in the year to April 2021. Rental vacancies within the Tweed Shire LGA are at record lows, with data released by real estate company PRD displaying vacancy rates at around 0.7 per cent, with Tweed Heads as low as 0.2 per cent, well below the 3 per cent vacancy rate considered to be the benchmark for a healthy rental market. As regional councils across the state struggle with the
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increasing demand for short term rental accommodation and associated impacts on the rental and housing markets, the NSW Government has delayed its introduction of new regulations covering short term holiday rentals until November 1. The new regulations will restrict the amount of days a year an empty property can be used for short term rental accommodation to 180 days per year in some regional areas, however this restriction will not cover the Tweed Shire. The new policy has come under fire from some regional councils wishing to impose their own restrictions on short term rentals, with the Byron Shire council in particular given special exemption to develop a planning proposal that caps short term rental of empty properties to 90 days a year. Speaking to the media in April, Planning Minister Rob Stokes has said he is open to hearing concerns from councils about the new regulations being introduced, particularly if councils can show evidence
This old mattress can be your bed for the night in the Tweed Shire for $55 per night. Inset is a separate property offering a tent to rent for $40 per night with amenities.
of short term accommodation impacting rental affordability. Other aspects of the new regulations to be introduced in November include updated minimum fire safety standards, as well as a new code of conduct for hosts, guests, online booking platforms and agents. The code of conduct will include new disciplinary actions that NSW Fair Trading can implement, including listing non
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compliant participants on an exclusion register. The new code will also require all short term rentals to be registered with the Department of Planning, Industry and Environment. More information about the new regulations can be found on the NSW Government, Fair Trading website.
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