24 June 2019
Media: NZME (for BOP Times and Rotorua Daily Post)
Topic: Short-term rental accommodation
Enquiry
May I please have the council's response to the following:
Rotorua residents raked in $32.8 million renting out their properties on sites such as Airbnb in the 11 months to May 2019, new data shows.
But local business leaders are blaming such sites for taking homes away from the rental market and say they should be charged the same as traditional accommodation providers.
Some say landlords were now capitalising on the financial advantage by moving houses from the traditional rental pool to the short-term Airbnb market, which should be treated as a business.
"They are only charged domestic rates and are not charged the commercial fees that traditional accommodation providers such as motels and hotels are forced to pay."
- What is the council's response to this?
- Should Airbnb's be treated as businesses? Why/why not?
- How could this be implemented?
I am hoping to insert the council's comment into the story as I believe it is only fair that the council gets to respond.
The story will be running in the Bay of Plenty Times too, but I have gone to the Tauranga City Council for their comment as the data is different for Tauranga.
Response
From Rotorua Mayor, Steve Chadwick: "Short-term holiday rentals have always been a popular accommodation option in Rotorua, particularly at the lakes, but in recent years the rise in short-term holiday rentals in urban areas has put additional pressure on housing and poses a challenge in terms of rating, monitoring and enforcement. "Rotorua Lakes Council has a threshold of 100 days before a holiday rental property is rated as a business and we are working towards a more proactive system of monitoring and enforcement. "It will take time because it's more complex than people might think. A key challenge is accurately identifying all holiday rental properties. Good, accurate information is critical to ensuring we deal with this in a fair and balanced way. "We have had discussions with members of our accommodation sector and they understand the complexities involved and that this will take time to work through. "In the meantime, we continue to rely on self-reporting and on members of the public and council staff identifying properties that may be operating above the 100-day threshold. In these cases property owners need to provide evidence they are not exceeding the threshold that would see them move to a business rate. We are also watching how the accommodation sectors in other high profile towns are being managed such as Queenstown. "Rating isn't the only consideration for councils, there's also the potential social impact that holiday rentals can have in terms of noise, parking and having large numbers of people in holiday homes in a neighbourhood. Those are issues our Council has faced in recent years and addressed through District Plan changes to safeguard neighbourhoods. "Rotorua is a popular tourist destination and our visitors have always enjoyed manaakitanga here. Our people are our city's ambassadors and we are mindful of deterring accommodation options where visitors can immerse themselves in our communities while also ensuring the playing field for our accommodation sector is fair." |
