Tourists could be hit with levies for Airbnb-style rentals to steer more homes towards residential leases as NSW considers hardening its approach.
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A short-term rental booking surcharge, already in place in Germany, France and the United States, is among the options being considered by the state to better balance tourism with housing affordability.
Property investors could also be incentivised to shift into the long-term rental market.
Non-hosted short-term rentals make up more than five per cent of homes in the council areas covering Byron Bay, the Alps and the NSW south coast, raising concerns they are compounding the decline in housing affordability and contributing to rising numbers of people sleeping rough.
Also up for discussion are more restrictive day caps for the state's 35,000 non-hosted short-term rentals, and revenue measures on all forms of short-term rental accommodation.
While wanting to protect the positive role short-term rentals play in the tourism economy, the NSW government said it wanted to balance that with impacts on housing affordability.
"One of the challenges that we have is our regulatory regime is still relatively new and quite light touch," Housing Minister Rose Jackson told reporters on Thursday.
"This is a good time to look at it.
"I'm not coming into this with any preconceived ideas."
Every option to tackle the homelessness crisis had to be on the table, Homelessness NSW said.
"Homelessness NSW strongly endorses using revenue from any short-term accommodation reform to increase funding for homelessness solutions," chief executive Dom Rowe said.
"Underfunded and overfull frontline services are forced to make heartbreaking choices about who to help, with one in every two people turned away."
Airbnb appears supportive of the tourism levy approach, noting the taxes have raised $10 billion globally, ideally when set in the range of three to five per cent.
But it stressed non-hosted short-term rentals made up just one in every 100 NSW homes.
"It is important the review gets the balance right so the core issue of housing affordability is addressed, without jeopardising the economic benefits that flow from short-term rentals," said Airbnb local head of public policy Michael Crosby.
"Airbnb (is) contributing billions to the NSW economy and supporting tens of thousands of jobs."
From 2025, Western Australia will offer $10,000 to investors who lease their properties to long-term tenants.
Victoria, meanwhile, expects to raise $70 million a year by slugging tourists 7.5 per cent on all short-term rental accommodation bookings from 2025.
The state also levies a vacancy tax in inner and middle Melbourne as a way to open up housing options.
NSW has about 95,000 residential properties not used for long-term housing, including 35,000 used as non-hosted short-term rentals throughout the year.
The debate over the future of short-term rentals comes ahead of the cap on non-hosted short-term rentals in Byron Shire being lowered from September, to 60 days per year.
Exceptions exist for Byron Bay Town Centre and Brunswick Heads, as well as properties rented for longer than 21 days at a time.
Australian Associated Press
