Byron Bay begins 60-day
cap on short-term holiday rentals
It is one of the most popular stretches of coastline in Australia. But a row is brewing in Byron Bay over a mammoth change starting today.
The white sandy beaches and laid-back lifestyle that attracts hordes of visitors each and every year to Byron Bay has officially kicked off a new rule “10 years” in the making, that will impact where and how tourists spend their time in the idyllic region.
From Tuesday, owners of short-term rental accommodation — also known as STRA or holiday letting (think Airbnb or Stayz homes) — will be banned from leasing their homes any more than 60 days in a calendar year. And if they do, Byron Bay’s Mayor Michael Lyon said fines to the tune of $12,000 await.
Speaking to news.com.au, Mr Lyon warned that any homeowner seeking a loophole to rent their home out over the 60-day cap will be punished, with “seamless and integrated” monitoring measures in place.
“Council recently issued $12,000 in fines to a property owner for breaches of [the now expired] 180-day cap,” he said.
“Council is working with the State Government on the register as the primary form of compliance, ensuring all stay data is accurately recorded.
“For platforms like Airbnb and Stayz, which account for a large amount of bookings, this is seamless and integrated already.
“The cap will create a disincentive to investors looking to purchase and then change the use of a premises from residential to commercial for the extra return holiday lets can bring.”
The decision to cap short-term rentals in certain parts of Byron Bay, while other oceanfront areas remain uncapped, appears to be a move that’s welcomed by locals and pushed by council. Mr Lyon and MP Tamara Smith said they have been calling for regulations into limiting the amount of homes used for non-hosted short-term rentals for years.
Speaking to her social media followers on Monday, MP Tamara Smith said the cap brings an end to a “10 year struggle” for Byron Bay.
“I am hoping that it works … that we see thousands, or many hundreds, of whole homes come onto the private rental market,” she said.
“We know they are going to be expensive, but we are the only local government area in the entire state that is having this trial … and we really want it to be a success.”
“This has positive impacts for housing supply and prices for both owners and renters,” Mr Lyon added.
“The economic benefits to the community of using housing as residential have also been shown to be greater, and spread across the whole economy, rather than concentrated in specialist businesses like cleaning and laundry that holiday lets tend to rely on.”
The decision to cap rentals, which was made in 2023 and will make the Byron Bay Shire the first local government area in NSW to implement such restrictions, is a desperate bid to push holiday dwellings back onto the long-term rental market.
Byron Bay’s housing stress and homelessness crisis is one of the worst in the country, with a report conducted earlier this year revealing that the number of people sleeping rough in Byron Bay had spiked.
The massive annual survey, conducted in February, showed that the world-famous beachside destination hosted 348 people sleeping rough, up 16 per cent on last year, while the City of Sydney in comparison had 208 in this year’s count.
But others say it will “devastate the economy”, with the region heavily reliant on tourism occupancy and attracting more than two million Australian and international visitors to Byron Bay each year.
Michael Crosby, Head of Public Policy for Airbnb Australia and New Zealand, unleashed on the decision — saying caps in New York didn’t help with housing, and neither will the restrictions in Byron Bay.
In a statement sent to news.com.au, Mr Crosby said the cap will see “tourism suffer” in a “critical sector”.
“Night caps, both locally and internationally, have not worked to improve housing affordability or supply,” Mr Crosby said.
“In New York City where short-term rentals have effectively been banned, hotel prices have soared and rental availability and affordability has not improved.
“Tourism will suffer given guests will have less affordable accommodation options. Airbnb guests in the Byron region spent over $200 million in the local community in the 12 months to March 2023 and helped to support 800 local jobs, all the while empowering local hosts to make extra income in the midst of a cost of living crisis.
“The NSW Government needs to consider how to increase affordable housing supply in places like Byron – and a small levy, paid for by the guest at the time of booking – is a way to do that.
“We’ll watch with interest to see the impact that this restriction has on the region’s critical tourism sector.”
Colin Hussey, chief executive of A Perfect Stay, manages 160 properties in Byron Shire, and agrees that the cap will “devastate the economy”.
“There is about 1,300 holiday homes registered in Byron and that supplies a huge array of accommodation for mostly Australian families to holiday,” Mr Hussey told the ABC.
“They spend around $400 million in the Northern Rivers region. Tourism is the number one economic driver in the Byron Shire, and holiday homes bring the highest yielding, most valuable and lowest-impact guests into the region.
“If you remove the accommodation that they stay in, they are not going to be able to come here. There are many other coastal towns who would like to take up the mantle.
Broadsheet.com.au
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Privacy Policy
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Introduction – purpose of this Privacy Policy
AIDOP NO 5 PTY LTD (ACN 646 787 368) as trustee for AIDOP NO 5 UNIT TRUST (ABN 85 613 932 881) and AIDOP NO 6 PTY LTD (ACN 647 295 510) as trustee for AIDOP NO 6 UNIT TRUST (ABN 29 125 237 441) (we, us or our) are committed to protecting the privacy of your personal information in accordance with the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) including the Australian Privacy Principles, and the New Zealand Privacy Act 2020 (together, the Privacy Laws).
This Privacy Policy is intended to provide a general overview of how we handle your personal information. "Personal information" is essentially information or an opinion about an identified or reasonably identifiable individual. By providing your personal information to us you consent to us handling your personal information in accordance with this Privacy Policy.
This Privacy Policy is intended to cover personal information which is collected by us via this website. Other policies may apply instead of or in addition to this Privacy Policy in certain circumstances.
If you have any queries about our handling of your personal information, please contact us for further information using the details below.
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Collection of personal information – what we collect
We will only collect information that is necessary for our business functions. Personal information we may collect about you includes:
• first name and last name, phone number, email address, postcode, and any other personal information you provide us on the enquiry form;
• where you follow us on Instagram, your personal Instagram photo and any other personal information you provide us if you comment or message us via your Instagram account; and
• any other information we receive from third parties (eg real estate agents).
We do not generally collect "sensitive information" about you via this website. Sensitive information includes your race, ethnic origin, political opinions and associations, religious or philosophical beliefs, trade union memberships or details of health or disability.
If we do collect sensitive information from you, we will only do so with your consent and if the information is reasonably necessary for one of our functions or activities. We will assume you have consented to us collecting, using and disclosing (in accordance with this Privacy Policy) all information that you provide to us, including any sensitive information, unless you tell us otherwise at the time of collection.
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How we may collect your personal information
We may collect personal information about you directly through this website:
• via the "Enquire Now" tab on this website, where you submit personal information as part of an online enquiry form. This allows you to register your interest in properties at The Bonobo by Raes;
• if you email us at the email address indicated at the bottom of this page; or
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We may also collect/receive personal information about you from third parties, such as:
• if you call our selling agent at the number listed on this website;
• real estate agents, our appointed selling agent and conjunction selling agents;
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• actual or potential providers of debt or equity finance;
• advisory and investment committees; or
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Where you provide us with any personal information relating to a third party, we receive that information on the understanding that we have the relevant individual's consent for us to collect and handle their personal information in accordance with this Privacy Policy.
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Why we collect your personal information and how we use it
We will generally only use your personal information for the purpose for which we collected it, or for related purposes we consider would be within your reasonable expectations. Generally, we may use your personal information for purposes that include:
• to provide you with information regarding apartments for sale at The Bonobo by Raes, to provide any other information that you request and to respond to other enquiries;
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By providing us with your personal information, you consent to us using your personal information for these purposes.
Where we propose to use or disclose your information for a purpose other than as outlined above, we will seek your permission (unless we are required or permitted by law to do so without seeking consent).
If you fail to provide personal information requested by us, or if the personal information you supply is incorrect or incomplete, there may be a range of consequences, for example we may be unable to provide you with our services.
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Disclosure of your personal information
We will generally only disclose your personal information to third parties for the purpose for which we collected it – ie for those purposes listed above. We may also use it for related purposes we consider would be within your reasonable expectations.
The third parties we may disclose your personal information to include:
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We also may share your information in response to subpoenas, court orders, or other legal process or as otherwise required by law (including to law enforcement and national security agencies, and other government and regulatory authorities).
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Disclosure of information overseas
In some cases, the organisations to whom we may disclose your personal information may be based outside Australia. For example, we may disclose your personal information to contracted third party suppliers that provide services to us – for example, cloud data storage providers such as Microsoft or invoice processing service providers such as Lightyear, whose servers may be located in various countries around the world.
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We take reasonable steps to securely store your personal information to ensure it is protected from unauthorised use, access, modification and disclosure, and from other types of misuse, interference and loss. We will take reasonable steps to destroy or permanently de-identify your personal information when we no longer require it for any purpose for which it was collected. We may retain your personal information for as long as necessary to comply with any applicable law, for insurance and corporate governance purposes, for the prevention of fraud and to resolve disputes. Your personal information may also be retained in our information technology system back-up records.
If you provide any personal information to us via our online form or via email, the privacy, security and integrity of this information cannot be guaranteed during its transmission unless we have indicated beforehand that a particular transaction or transmission of information will be protected (for example, by encryption).
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Data breach
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Please contact us if you have reason to believe or suspect that a data breach may have occurred, so that we can investigate and, if necessary, undertake appropriate containment, risk mitigation and notification activities as required.
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Complaints
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Your complaint will be considered and dealt with by our nominated representative, who may escalate the complaint internally within our organisation if the matter is serious or if necessary to resolve it.
Please allow us a reasonable time to respond to your complaint. If you are not satisfied with our resolution, you may make a complaint to the OAIC whose contact details can be found at: http://www.oaic.gov.au/.
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Changes to our Privacy Policy
We may, from time to time, amend, modify or replace this Privacy Policy. You may obtain a copy of the current version of this Privacy Policy by contacting us. You should review our Privacy Policy each time you provide us with personal information.
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Contact us
If you would like further information about the way we manage your personal information or if you have a complaint, please contact our Privacy Officer at privacy@podia.com.au.