Brisbane City Council will ask rate payers to flag properties that are advertised on short-stay websitesBrisbane homeowners have been officially asked to dob in a neighbour who is running short-stay accommodation, as the city’s rental crisis deepens and complaints from residents living next to “pseudo hotels” swell.
Brisbane City Council confirmed on Tuesday it will write to its ratepayers asking them to flag properties that are advertised on short-stay websites, which includes Airbnb, Bookings.com and Stayz.
Brisbane’s vacancy rate has plunged to a record low of 0.6 per cent, according to Domain data, and is holding firm to that slim margin.
The lack of properties to meet tenant demand has sparked council’s move to impose a heftier rates levy on homeowners of short-term lets, in the hope it feeds more houses and apartments through to the longer-term rental market.
Council will use technology to sweep listing sites and zero in on properties that fall under a new higher rates category.
The council has introduced the Transitory Accommodation grouping for real estate – which came into effect on July 1 – will slug eligible rate holders an extra 50 per cent, which is $985 a year more on the average Brisbane property.
Mayor Adrian Schrinner said in a statement that he would prefer it if owners of short-term stays would “self nominate”, rather than other residents coming forward with the information.
He said Brisbane is experiencing a sparsity of housing and the new category and levy system will help funnel real estate back to longer-term renters.
“I’d be happy if this new rating category didn’t raise a single dollar,” Cr Schrinner said.
“Brisbane currently has a severe housing shortage because not enough homes are being built to meet demand.
“We want this new rating category to convince owners to return properties to the long-term rental market so they can be permanent homes.”
Cr Schrinner said the growing number of short-term let had developed into “problems” for residents who have “suddenly found themselves living next to pseudo hotels”.
“Additional complaints cause an increase in compliance costs which should not be borne by other ratepayers,” he said.
“Owners using properties as short-term accommodation are reaping commercial returns so it is only fair that they pay a commercial level of rates.”
The rental supply strategy was flagged by the council earlier this year.
“As we said in June, it is going to take time to identify all the eligible properties that fall into this category,” Cr Schrinner said.
“This is about trying to push properties back into the private rental market while ensuring those that continue to be used on a short-term basis pay their fair share.”
*This post was originally published on https://www.domain.com.au/news/brisbane-city-council-asks-homeowners-to-dob-in-a-neighbour-offering-short-term-accommodation-1172293/
