Restricting Holiday Listings No Silver Bullet for Housing Crisis, Airbnb Research Finds

An attempt by one Australian council to cap the length of time homes can be used as tourist accommodation has actually led to fewer long-term rentals.
Restricting Holiday Listings No Silver Bullet for Housing Crisis, Airbnb Research Finds
An aerial view of Byron Bay, Australia ,on June 20, 2020. Brook Mitchell/Getty Images
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Fewer long-term rental listings available and a 7 percent increase in weekly rent—that’s the outcome of an attempt to make more accommodation available for locals by limiting owners of short-term accommodation to renting to tourists and visitors for a maximum of 60 days a year, according to research carried out for Airbnb.

The Byron Shire placed the cap on non-hosted short-term rental accommodation (STRA) in September 2024, in a bid to reduce prices for locals competing with holiday-makers.
Rex Widerstrom
Rex Widerstrom
Author
Rex Widerstrom is a New Zealand-based reporter with over 40 years of experience in media, including radio and print. He is currently a presenter for Hutt Radio.