Category Archives: AirBnB

Victorian Greens shape up for housing fight over Labor’s proposed Airbnb levy

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Exclusive: Greens say new figures show government’s 7.5% levy on short-stay rentals won’t help fix the housing crisis

The Greens are setting the stage for a fight with the Victorian government over its proposed Airbnb levy, armed with new figures that show the measure will only make a “marginal” difference to the number of homes freed for renters.

Announced last year as part of the government’s plan to tackle the housing crisis, the 7.5% levy on short-stay properties leased through platforms such as Airbnb and Stayz is expected to be included in the state tax bill, which will be tabled in parliament after next week’s budget.

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Nearly 100,000 NSW homes not being used for long-term housing, figures show

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Housing review finds 33,000 homes, including Stayz and Airbnb listings, are registered as non-hosted short-term rentals

Almost 100,000 apartments and houses across New South Wales are not being used for long-term housing, according to state government modelling.

The state government estimates 15,000 homes are vacant year-round, 45,000 are used as holiday homes and more than 33,000 are registered as non-hosted short-term properties, according to the data released as part of the Minns government’s review of short-term rentals including Stayz and Airbnb.

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Vacant property taxes, levies and caps on the table as NSW Labor reviews Airbnbs and short-term rentals

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Exclusive: Minns government to place every aspect of housing ‘under the microscope’ as it confronts rental crisis

Vacant property taxes, levies and annual caps will be considered when the New South Wales government reviews regulation of short-term rentals including Airbnbs over the next six months.

The housing minister, Rose Jackson, who will lead the review, hoped to find ways to move some holiday rentals and unoccupied properties on to the longer-term rental market as the Minns government confronts the state’s chronic housing crisis.

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Arizona grandma and one-time stranger celebrate eighth Thanksgiving together

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Wanda Dench and Jamal Hinton, who met via an accidental text message, invited a second stranger to join them this year

An Arizona grandmother and the stranger to whom she accidentally texted a Thanksgiving invitation in 2016 celebrated their eighth holiday dinner together this week – and welcomed a new guest to the tradition.

Wanda Dench and Jamal Hinton, whose unexpected Thanksgiving went viral nearly a decade ago, expanded their annual get-together this year by inviting another stranger into her home.

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Airbnb petitions Victorian government to exclude single rooms and cheap stays from new levy

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The introduction of 7.5% levy on short-stays will have ‘disproportionate impact on budget accomodation’, company’s head of public policy says

Airbnb will urge the Victorian government to exclude private room bookings and other “budget accommodation” from its recently-announced 7.5% levy on short-stays, and has cautioned other states from immediately following suit.

At a media event on Wednesday morning, the company’s head of public policy in Australia and New Zealand, Michael Crosby, said he was “disappointed” the levy was limited to short-stay platforms, having previously pushed for a 3-5% tax on all accommodation providers.

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Australian-first 7.5% levy to hit all Airbnb and short-stay accomodation in Victoria

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Daniel Andrews also announces redevelopment of 44 public housing towers and more renter protections

Australia’s first widespread levy on short-stay accommodation and the redevelopment of 44 monolithic public housing towers have been announced by the Victorian government as part of an overhaul of policy.

The 7.5% levy on platforms such as Airbnb and Stayz, announced by the premier, Daniel Andrews, on Wednesday, is expected to raise about $70m annually to fund social and affordable housing.

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New York City’s crackdown on Airbnb and short-term rentals goes into effect

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New regulations expected to affect tens of thousands of illegal short-term listings

New rules in New York City on Airbnbs and short-term rentals go into effect on Tuesday, with regulations expected to affect tens of thousands of illegal short-term listings.

The latest legislation bulks up enforcement of existing rules on how short-term rentals are allowed to operate in New York City.

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Byron’s proposed 60-day Airbnb cap unlikely to come into effect until next year despite housing crisis

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If approved by NSW government, it will apply only to Byron and not other councils struggling amid the state-wide housing shortage

Byron council’s planned 60-day cap on short-term rentals like Airbnbs to ease pressure on the housing market would not come into effect until the middle of next year if the government decides to allow it, the holiday hotspot’s mayor says.

And if the tightened rules are approved by the New South Wales government, they will just apply to Byron and not other councils also struggling with housing amid a state-wide shortage.

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Short-term rental properties in NSW surge by 13,000 since December 2021

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Exclusive: 45,209 rentals now registered as minister prepares to review proposed annual limits

The number of properties listed as short-term rentals across New South Wales has surged by 42% since 2021 to exceed 45,000, with the state’s planning minister to review proposed annual caps later this year.

Paul Scully said his department would interrogate the calls for 60-day caps, amid pressure from mayors to allow councils to set their own limits to deal with the rise in listings that they say is adding to the statewide housing crisis.

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Mayors in NSW holiday hotspots consider short-term rental caps after 60-day limit proposed

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Blue Mountains among the regions examining advice from state’s Independent Planning Commission

Mayors across New South Wales will look to adopt strict limits on short-term holiday rentals to address housing shortages if the state government accepts recommendations to allow the Byron shire council to impose a 60-day annual cap.

Amid warnings from Airbnb that such a cap would cause a hit to Byron Bay’s economy, the Blue Mountains mayor, Mark Greenhill, said he would jump at the chance to impose a similar cap in the region, which is facing comparable pressures.

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NSW’s most popular holiday spots divided over limits on Airbnb rentals

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Not all councils agree on best way to tackle homelessness caused in part by popularity of short-term rentals such as Airbnb

Councils responsible for some of New South Wales’ most popular tourism destinations are urging the incoming Minns government to give them the power to further restrict short-term holiday rentals.

In December, the Byron shire council, which has the highest rate of homelessness in the state outside Sydney, voted in favour of introducing a 90-day cap on some short-term holiday rentals in an effort to generate more long-term rental supply.

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Rental crisis: Airbnb and holiday home owners urged to let properties out to long-term renters

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Thousands of homes across Australia are listed on short-stay websites but councils’ call to action is ‘piecemeal approach’ to housing crisis, experts say

Councils across the country are urging people with empty holiday homes and Airbnbs to move them on to the long-term rental markets in a bid to deal with the housing crisis.

But policy experts say doing callouts to create more rental housing stock is “taking a piecemeal approach” to a crisis that needs urgent intervention.

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Airbnb to use ‘anti-party technology’ to crack down on rowdy guests

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Bookings to be judged by factors such as reviews and length of trips, after Australia pilot

Airbnb says it will deploy “anti-party technology” in an effort to crack down on guests who trash houses they have booked with massive bashes.

The technology, which has been trialled in Australia, will look at “factors like history of positive reviews (or lack of positive reviews), length of time the guest has been on Airbnb, length of the trip, distance to the listing, weekend vs weekday, among many others” to determine whether a particular booking was likely to be intended for hosting a party, the company said. It will initially be used in the US and Canada, and will continue to operate in Australia.

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Australia’s consumer watchdog launches legal action against Airbnb for alleged misleading prices

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ACCC is seeking compensation for Australian customers who were quoted accommodation prices in USD but charged in AUD

The consumer watchdog has launched legal action against Airbnb for allegedly misleading thousands of customers into believing accommodation prices were in Australian dollars when they were actually in US currency.

In a statement filed with the federal court, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) is seeking compensation for the customers, who it claims were misled from at least January 2018 until August 2021 because the prices displayed to some Airbnb users did not mention that they were in US dollars, with reference to the foreign currency in the fine print.

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Airbnb to close in China amid repeated Covid lockdowns

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With pandemic restrictions showing no sign of ending, home rental service says it will cease taking bookings for accommodation inside China from 30 July

Airbnb is closing down its business inside China indefinitely, as the country’s zero-Covid policy, lockdowns and travel restrictions continue.

On Tuesday Airbnb told its China-based users it would cease taking all bookings for accommodation and experiences in China from 30 July. The ability to book for dates beyond 29 July was suspended on Tuesday morning, according to screenshots of the Airbnb notice shared across Chinese social media. An attempt by the Guardian to make bookings from outside China after that date produced an error message.

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Ukraine Airbnbs being booked in effort to get money to residents

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People are paying but not staying, as rental platform offers free housing to 100,000 Ukrainian refugees

Members of the public are paying for Airbnb rentals in Ukraine to help get money to residents who are facing extreme financial hardship because of the Russian invasion.

The home rental platform has already moved to offer free housing to 100,000 Ukrainian refugees, but members of the public have come up with a novel way to financially help those who either intend to remain or are trapped in the country owing to the conflict.

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‘No light at the end of the tunnel’: Americans join Hong Kong’s business exodus

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Worsening Sino-US ties, strict Covid rules and the crackdown on dissent have dented the territory’s fabled allure as a business hub, say expats

In July 2018, Tara Joseph, president of the American Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong, wrote an article in the best-known local English-language newspaper, the South China Morning Post, stressing to Americans the territory’s unique position as an Asian business hub.

“The US is forgetting the differences between Hong Kong and China. Let’s remind them,” she wrote. “Hong Kong continues to have a robust and hearty infrastructure of values, practices and institutions that could not contrast more starkly with those of the mainland system.”

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The Home Alone house is on Airbnb. Sounds like a trap | Stuart Heritage

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Just how lucky will the guests who get to stay at the McCallister house later this month be? I foresee trouble

In the interests of public service, I need to make you aware of a trap. Yesterday, a property became available on Airbnb. It is a large home in the Chicago area, available for one night only and it is suspiciously cheap. Look, it’s the Home Alone house.

Apparently, for $18 (£13.50), you and three friends can stay overnight in the iconic McCallister residence. You will be greeted by the actor who played Buzz McCallister. There will be pizza and other 90s junk food. There will be a mirror for you to scream into. There may well be a tarantula. It all seems too good to be true, doesn’t it? This is why I am convinced that whoever ends up staying there will be robbed.

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Woman allegedly raped at New York Airbnb received secret $7m settlement – report

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Airbnb taskforce that ‘cleans up only after disaster strikes’ intervened after alleged attack, reports Bloomberg Businessweek

An Australian woman who was allegedly raped at knifepoint in an Airbnb apartment in New York received a secret settlement of $7m which included restrictions on what she could say about the incident, according to a media investigation into the vacation listings giant’s “guest safety” policies .

The 29-year-old was attacked in a property near the tourist magnet and central Manhattan crossroads of Times Square early on New Year’s Day in 2016, Bloomberg Businessweek reported, prompting the swift intervention of a dedicated Airbnb crisis management “taskforce”.

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Work is where your laptop is: meet the globetrotting digital nomads

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Worldwide shift to flexible and home working in pandemic has led to rise of new kind of backpacker

Samantha Scott does not miss her daily commutes in London, particularly “the dread of having to wake up and get on the tube, and heading into work sweaty and flustered. I’m still waking up at 6 or 7am, but I’m able to go for a walk on the beach before I start work.”

When she and her partner Chris Cerra arrive with their luggage in a new city, they can easily be mistaken for tourists. But they are part of a new generation of “digital nomads” who hop from country to country to live and work.

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