Brisbane Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner with Brisbane Lions WAFL player, Ally Anderson, alongside the new CityCat, Mooroolbin II. Picture: Matthew Poon
Brisbane has moved to penalise property owners who put homes up for Airbnb, Stayz or short-term letting instead of longer-term rent – part of measures to ease chronic rental shortages.
Brisbane Mayor Adrian Schrinner announced a 3.75 per cent increase in rates for homeowners across the city, a figure which would be 50 per cent higher for those who practice short-term letting.
“Renters should not be left out in the cold while the property market continues to skyrocket,” he said while delivering the 2022/23 Brisbane budget Wednesday.
He gave several hours warning of the move, tweeting at 6am “we’re going to give landlords who’ve turned homes into mini hotels using websites like Airbnb and Stayz a choice between returning these properties to the long-term rental market or face significantly higher rates”.
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Homes used for short-term letting such as via Airbnb or Stayz instead of the longer term rental market will be charged higher rates by the Brisbane City Council.
In his budget address, Mr Schrinner said the rental vacancy rate was now at record lows – estimated at 0.7 per cent this week.
“It’s incredibly hard for tenants to find affordable places to live with six or twelve month leases,” he said.
“The short-term rental trend, facilitated by well-known booking apps, removes homes from the long-term rental market. To be clear – this contributes to supply shortages and increasing housing costs.”
Mr Schrinner also expressed concern over the impact short-term rentals had on investment in hotel infrastructure across the Olympic city.
“It creates an uneven playing field and jeopardises investment in purpose-built short-term accommodation, like hotels. This is not a good scenario for a city that’s a decade away from hosting the biggest sporting event on the planet.”
Part of Brisbane’s budget presentation 2022/23 by mayor Adrian Schrinner.
Mr Schrinner said owners who leased their property on the short-term market would be required to pay their fair share.
“We will be introducing new rating categories for transitory accommodation which will mean owners pay 50 per cent higher rates than equivalent non-owner-occupied residential properties,” he said.
“For a property on the minimum rating level, that will work out to be almost $600 extra a year. This amount is more consistent with commercial rates. Properties that simply have a room to rent will be excluded. However, properties that are listed for short-term rental for more than 60 days a year will be required to pay the higher amount of rates.”
The move will be rolled out progressively across Brisbane, he said.
From July 1, owners of properties on short-term rental will be encouraged to self-identify, members of the public will be asked to inform council if a property was used in that way, and council would also use online source to identify properties.
“I know some owners will not like this approach. However, residential streets were not meant to be home to pseudo hotels, with different tenants coming and going every weekend,” he said.
Mr Schrinner hoped the measure would motivate owners of short-term rentals to put their properties into the longer-term rental market.
He said the work done now would help Brisbane 2032 become a success on and off the field.
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