The 60 day cap on non-hosted Holiday Letting was introduced into Byron Shire last month. Outgoing mayor Michael Lyon expended a lot of political capital on this legislation, backed by strong community support. The proof will now be in the pudding to see if it works: Can it be enforced, and will it make any difference to housing and tourism numbers?
It will take a while before we find out. Short-term rental properties are allowed to run until their registration requires renewal. Some high-demand areas are cut out of the ruling. These precincts are allowed the full 365 days of Holiday Letting. Many other shires throughout the state and country will be watching this test case. The NSW state government introduced a 180-day HL cap statewide in 2022. The precinct map and details about the regulation are on the BSC website.
A Little Bit of History
We must remember that the STHL (Short-Term Holiday Let) industry evolved to fix a problem that developed in the 90s. Club Med Resorts wanted to bring its brand to the Bay against much opposition. We became a Backpacker-Party-Town, with chaotic NYE celebrations and daytrippers trashing the place. We decided that we needed “High-Value, Low-Impact” tourists.
The answer was families that stayed a week spent lots of money and were in bed by 10pm. Families wanted to stay in family homes, so the Holiday Let industry was encouraged and grew. Like all success stories, it got out of hand. The internet platforms took property rental out of the hands of real estate agencies, and some outside investors took over from the local cottage industry operators. It began to leak into suburban areas where it should never have been.
Wrong Target
The main problem with this whole saga was the idea that the STHL industry caused our housing issues. HL properties never exceeded 10%, and HL providers had a right to feel they were being scapegoated by a council flailing and failing to fix the housing crisis. Our housing crisis has been baked in with decades of anti-development consensus.
We only have to look closely at the IPC (Independent Planning Commission), which approved the cap regulation. They went further, as the council asked for a 90-day cap and returned with 60 days. Many were crowing about this as a victory, ignoring the need to look closer at the regulation.
The IPC granted the 60-day cap, allowing the precinct cut-out, with proviso/demand to finish the long-delayed and mishandled Residential Strategy and commit to building another 4,500 houses over the life of the residential strategy. The experts at the IPC were not deluded with magical thinking that limiting Holiday Letting would solve housing issues. The way to solve a housing shortage is to (duh) build more houses.
Brake on Tourism
The policy’s positive outcome is that it will help curb out-of-control tourism. We do not want to become another Venice, Barcelona, or Bali. Tourism numbers will only intensify, and we want to keep our remarkable, unique quality. We can do this with various accommodation options: Holiday Let homes, upmarket hotels being built now, lower cost accom and more diverse housing for people living and working here. Let’s hope the new council can start on the road to this mix with more pragmatism and less bullshit.