Holiday rental rules disputed
A petition opposing plans to manage private home holiday rentals will be presented today after gathering close to 3000 signatures.
It was drawn up in response to the New Plymouth District Council’s (NPDC) proposal to limit the use of private residential visitor accommodation for paying guests to 90 days a year, with rules around vehicle movements and the number of guests per night.
The council says the rules, which are part of the proposed district plan, would only apply to accommodation without resource consent and were drawn up purely to manage issues around noise, traffic and parking.
There are about 300 New Plymouth homes to rent on Airbnb and nearly 200 on BookaBach but
Jo Bourke, who set up the petition, discovered under the Local Government Official Information Act that there had been only four complaints to council.
These related to the environmental effects of vehicle movements and parking, with two of the complaints relating to the same property.
Bourke, co-owner of holiday property management company Bach Break, fears the proposals will drive many private boutique accommodation options out of business.
‘‘We already as a business have a lot of rules and regulations around these areas,’’ she said.
Bourke, whose company manages 75 properties, says there is a big enough market for everyone in the local accommodation sector.
‘‘The industry has been unregulated and we are not opposed to regulation of the industry but we want it done in a sensible way.’’
Auckland Council has brought in an accommodation provider targeted rate (APTR) or bed tax, which affects hosts who rent out their property online for more than 28 days per year and makes them liable for business rates, and there are also regulations in Queenstown.
Bookabach has also submitted against the NPDC’s proposals, arguing that they do not address the most consistently raised questions about the industry, such as its impact on housing affordability, housing availability and neighbourhoods.
Eacham Curry, Bookabach director of government and corporate affairs, said a better approach would be a partnership with local councils to get central government involved so the rules were uniform.
Many out-of-towners had also signed the petition, which was at 2875 yesterday.
But Deb Tawa, who owns Beach Street Motel Apartments, said the move was a small step in the right direction – as long as it was monitored by the council.
Earlier this year she argued, on behalf of the Hospitality New Zealand Association, that there were 378 entire homes listed in New Plymouth on Airbnb and more than 200 of them were turning over more than $20,000 a year, which should make them susceptible to the same commercial rates and regulations as hotels and motels.
Tawa has said they are not seeking to tax or regulate those who occasionally rented out a room in their house, but wanted a fair playing field for commercial operators.
New Plymouth District Council group manager of strategy Liam Hodgetts said residential visitor accommodation was an emerging issue nationally and NPDC was required to plan for the future. ‘‘The 90-day threshold came from rating policies in Auckland and Queenstown examples.’’
Hodgetts said the 90-day cap would have to be established on a case-by-case basis or where complaints were lodged.
The petition will be presented to the council at noon.