Greens Councillors To Introduce AirBNB Cap For City Of Sydney

In a motion at this month’s council meeting, the Greens are moving to unlock thousands of homes in the City of Sydney as secure, long-term rentals by capping AirBNBs at 60 days per year.

A 2023 review of Sydney’s short-term rentals found that over 5000 homes are currently un-hosted short-term rental accommodation. With a vacancy rate of less than 2 per cent, un-hosted short-term rental accomodations are increasingly competing with long term rentals, and their numbers continue to grow rapidly.

State and Council planning rules require any short-term rentals to be registered and impose a 180-day cap per annum on those that are un-hosted, designed to discourage landlords from putting too many homes out to short term rental.

But research from the City of Sydney shows the cap isn’t working- landlords are making far more money from short-term rentals than with long-term rentals, even if they do stick to the cap.

“Right now, there are thousands of homes in the City of Sydney that are sitting empty in the middle of a housing crisis,” said Greens Councillor Matthew Thompson.

“Property investors are buying homes and renting them out short-term as AirBNBs for huge profits – even if it means those homes sit empty for a lot of the year.”

“Every house should be a home”, says Thompson

Councillor Sylvie Ellsmore says that while the NSW government refuses to take action, local government has the “responsibility to do what we can”.

“We want to see a 60 day cap on unhosted AirBNBs,” she said. “This would force property investors back to the long-term market, meaning more homes available to people who want to live in our neighbourhoods and build a life here.”

The Greens want to see Sydney take similar action to that of Byron Shire’s Council, after it introduced a 60-day cap last year, applying only to non-hosted stays, still allowing those who live in the property but rent out a room or granny flat to continue doing so.

“In Millers Point there are even streets where most of the houses are AirBNBs: chained with lockboxes out front,” said Thompson.

“And in the middle of a housing crisis, when rents have never been higher and the vacancy rate never lower, every house should be a home, not an expensive holiday rental.”

Thompson will bring the motion forward at the next council meeting on October 27.