Sydney property owners are being threatened with fines of more than $1 million for renting out rooms in their homes through short-term accommodation sites such as Airbnb.
Others, like Newtown resident Lynn Stanton, have been instructed to apply to become bed and breakfasts – a process which may include expensive upgrades like fitting commercial kitchens – as councils grapple with how to regulate a growing online economy that connects home owners with holidaymakers.
Ms Stanton, who is working with the City of Sydney to get her application approved, said the council even requested to see a copy of her breakfast menu.
"They said, 'oh there's not much cooking involved there," said Ms Stanton, who typically laid out fruit, muesli and bread for guests to help themselves.
" 'But [they said] if we approve you as a bed and breakfast you can in the future serve hot breakfast and you'll be needing a hygienic commercial kitchen.'
"I just think the whole thing is crazy."
Shauna, who requested Fairfax Media not disclose her last name, was notified by Randwick Council in April that it had evidence she was running an "unauthorised" bed and breakfast from her home.
A council letter gave her 10 days to explain why it should not take action against her, warning she could be liable for a maximum penalty of $1.1 million plus an additional $110,000 a day.
"It was quite a shocking letter to get," said Shauna, who was renting out a room through Airbnb for about a month at a time.
"I immediately saw $1.1 million and thought 'what am I going to do?' "
Trevor Atherton, of Atherton Legal, which specialises in tourism law, said several Sydney councils were telling residents they would need to lodge development applications and were threatening $1 million-plus fines for what the councils saw as an illegal breach of their planning controls.
That's the next step, preventing parents from charging board from their children, apparently, they're running a hotel. Gotta make sure the kids are buying a new house as soon as they come of age.
"If man is to survive, he will have learned to take a delight in the essential differences between men and between cultures. He will learn that differences in ideas and attitudes are a delight, part of life's exciting variety, not something to fear." - Gene Roddenberry
"Balloon animals are a great way to teach children that the things they love dearly, may spontaneously explode" -- Lee Camp
That's the next step, preventing parents from charging board from their children, apparently, they're running a hotel. Gotta make sure the kids are buying a new house as soon as they come of age.
There have always been regulations on turning homes into flats or boarding houses. They all have to be registered. Permission from the local council is needed and these days it's pretty strict.
This story does seem extraordinary though.
If the councils in Sydney are cracking down on this it does tend to say "overcrowding" as the lack of affordable housing supply is being met by people taking in boarders.
That's the next step, preventing parents from charging board from their children, apparently, they're running a hotel. Gotta make sure the kids are buying a new house as soon as they come of age.
That's a bit extreme
It's not that different from a house that is rented to uni students where there is a constant change over of residents, with, or without the LLs permission.
I lament the days when you could get pissed, load up the car with the kids and drive to the pub to get even more pissed. And drive home of course. We're far to safe these days...
It's not that different from a house that is rented to uni students where there is a constant change over of residents, with, or without the LLs permission.
I lament the days when you could get pissed, load up the car with the kids and drive to the pub to get even more pissed. And drive home of course. We're far to safe these days...
Yes, I was being somewhat tongue in cheek about it, but still, a $1 million fine is the extreme bit.
"If man is to survive, he will have learned to take a delight in the essential differences between men and between cultures. He will learn that differences in ideas and attitudes are a delight, part of life's exciting variety, not something to fear." - Gene Roddenberry
"Balloon animals are a great way to teach children that the things they love dearly, may spontaneously explode" -- Lee Camp
It's a fair call by council, you can't have unregulated hotel style accommodation springing up all over as they won't be paying tax and there could be undesirables taking advantage of their customers. This is the problem with large complex societies when the wealth inputs begin to diminish. There is so much regulation across the board that was previously self policing but then becomes challenged by the population. The government simply doesn't have the resources to crack down on all of the offenders and has to overlook much of it.
20 years ago it was risky to be a backyard used car dealer and government often got wind of your activities via the registration transactions. But now people are transacting all manner of business through their homes and trying to crack down on the ones crossing the line of allowable limits is nearly impossible. So they go for the bigger obvious dealers, be it cars or eBay stuff, and now accommodation.
Down in brisbane the number of unregistered boarding houses must be astronomical. They appear as share houses but are boarding houses in the true sense of the word. The Chinese are very big into it.
Shadow was hopelessly wrong about the Gold Bull Market. What else is he wrong about?
Along with farming i have been in the hospitality business for 35 years.
There are rules in the hospitality industry that are there for the safety of the guests and staff, they require knowledge and policing.
If you think that allowing uninspected properties to be offered to the public can work you are being very irresponsible. And it is being done for one reason only "profit" and if you are going to place people in harms way for profit you deserve to have the book thrown at you.
If someone wants to open a Bed and breakfast there are ways of doing that, so what is the problem.
If someone wants to open a new motel or hotel no problems, go through the process and do the business.
It's a fair call by council, you can't have unregulated hotel style accommodation springing up all over as they won't be paying tax and there could be undesirables taking advantage of their customers. This is the problem with large complex societies when the wealth inputs begin to diminish. There is so much regulation across the board that was previously self policing but then becomes challenged by the population. The government simply doesn't have the resources to crack down on all of the offenders and has to overlook much of it.
20 years ago it was risky to be a backyard used car dealer and government often got wind of your activities via the registration transactions. But now people are transacting all manner of business through their homes and trying to crack down on the ones crossing the line of allowable limits is nearly impossible. So they go for the bigger obvious dealers, be it cars or eBay stuff, and now accommodation.
Down in brisbane the number of unregistered boarding houses must be astronomical. They appear as share houses but are boarding houses in the true sense of the word. The Chinese are very big into it.
Quote:
won't be paying tax
Oh yes they will. Sites like air BnB make tax evasion much harder.
Quote:
and there could be undesirables taking advantage of their customers.
Won't someone think of the children!!
Quote:
The government simply doesn't have the resources to crack down on all of the offenders and has to overlook much of it.
At a Million + fines I'm sure the council can crack down if they want to. They simply might not want to, or legally can't.
Quote:
But now people are transacting all manner of business through their homes and trying to crack down on the ones crossing the line of allowable limits is nearly impossible.
Down in brisbane the number of unregistered boarding houses must be astronomical. They appear as share houses but are boarding houses in the true sense of the word. The Chinese are very big into it.
Maybe not so much any more. The BCC has a compliance team of several people ferreting these out on gumtree and other forms of advertising.
A share house is pretty safe if it has 5 (I think) or fewer bedrooms. Above that, if the people in the house are otherwise unrelated besides the address they live at, you are at risk of being deemed to be an illegal rooming house.
The fines are pretty stiff.
Mustapha Mond
27 Sep 2014, 11:46 AM
If you think that allowing uninspected properties to be offered to the public can work you are being very irresponsible. And it is being done for one reason only "profit" and if you are going to place people in harms way for profit you deserve to have the book thrown at you.
If someone wants to open a Bed and breakfast there are ways of doing that, so what is the problem.
I tend to agree. It's not as if it is impossible to make it all above board.
zaph
27 Sep 2014, 05:49 AM
Won't someone think of the children!
Don't worry. If the people who live at a premises are all related, it cannot be deemed to be a rooming house.
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