LETTER TO NSW PREMIER - THE NEED TO BAN SHORT-TERM RENTALS ACROSS NSW – COVID-19 PANDEMIC

In a letter today, our residents action group Neighbours Not Strangers warned the NSW Premier that a failure to immediately ban all short-term rental (STR) activities across the State could result in a risk of spreading COVID-19 from our densely populated cities to every rural hideaway.

A Public Health (COVID-19 Restrictions on Gathering and Movement) Order 2020 [NSW] concerning staying at home decrees:  “Taking a holiday in a regional area is not a reasonable excuse” for movement.

Residents of NSW Strata Plan SP 57860, Residential Development Approval File No. Z96-00542 (23/07/97 Council of the City of Sydney), Certificate of Classification B-00336 (31/07/98 Sydney City Council) Class 2 Residential (Building Codes of Australia/National Construction Code), NSW Land and Environment Court Orders Case number 14/40923 (30/04/15) have sought and failed to have all short-term rentals in their building delisted.

Through NSW Fair Trading (Reference 10029247), Airbnb advised: “They are an online platform and do not own, operate, manage or control accommodation.”

On 30/03/2020, Airbnb CEO Chris Lehane wrote a letter to ‘hosts’. The (responsible) decision to cancel reservations was done without consulting hosts and against host cancellation policies. This letter from Airbnb sets a clear precedent.

Neighbours Not Strangers seeks the Premier’s assistance in immediately banning STRs in all Class 1a and Class 2 (BCA/NCC) dwellings.