This report provides a summary of current data obtained from primary research on the perspectives of Approved Accommodation Providers (AAPs) within the Byron Shire regarding perceived impacts of Short-term Rental Accommodation (STRA) on the Shire’s accommodation sector.
The research project follows an initial 2018 systematic scoping study of international peer-reviewed studies on the implications of Airbnb on local communities (Caldicott, von der Heidt, Scherrer, Muschter, & Canosa, 2020) and the 2018 study of Byron Shire community perspectives on the impacts of Airbnb (Che, Muschter, von der Heidt, & Caldicott, 2019a). The research project commenced following receipt of a Seed Funding Grant from the Tourism Research Cluster in Southern Cross University’s School of Business and Tourism (SBAT) with joint-funding from the Byron Shire Council.
The objectives of the 2019 project were twofold:
1. To determine the size, main attributes and development patterns of Airbnb, and AAPs in the Byron Shire and provide a descriptive summary.
2. To determine AAP attitudes regarding impacts of STRA (including Airbnb) on their business through pilot interviews and a survey.
To address the first objective, the SBAT research team accessed secondary data from Inside Airbnb which provides data on Airbnb property listings and the Tourism Australia data set about AAPs. Additionally, the research team created a database for AAPs in the Byron Shire which was then cross-checked with the commercial accommodation audit provided by the Byron Shire Council.
To address the second objective, the SBAT team undertook the following research. Phase 1 involved interviewing seven key informants from the accommodation, tourism, neighbourhood, and government sectors. This interview data further informed the development of the survey instrument for Phase 2. From the 115 AAPs in the Byron Shire, the survey yielded 57 useable responses.
Key findings from the AAP survey:
1. The majority of respondents felt that the growth of STRA in the Byron Shire has had the following negative impacts on the approved accommodation sector: (1) led/contributed to an oversupply of tourist accommodation in certain parts of the Byron Shire (88% of respondents); (2) decreased the potential commercial viability of approved accommodation businesses (88%); and (3) created an unequal playing field for AAPs (86%).
2. Over the last two reporting years, the majority of respondents (over 80%) stated that their business saw decreases in occupancy rate, average net-rate and net revenue. More respondents reported decreases for the comparative period 2017/18 to 2018/19 than for the period before.
3. Around half of respondents have considered undertaking several changes to their business operation over the last 12 months including: (1) upgrading/renovating the accommodation property (58% of respondents); (2) repositioning the business, for example, to target a different type of guest (45%); and (3) selling the business (33%).
4. There was an agreement among the respondents that the growth of STRA in the Byron Shire has resulted in changes to both their work and personal lives. A majority (84% of respondents) stated that they have to work harder in their accommodation job, while 65% felt more anxious and stressed. Over half of respondents found that their job satisfaction has decreased.
5. Over half (55%) of the respondents felt that the draft STRA Environmental Policy, Code of Conduct, and Fire Safety codes that the New South Wales (NSW) Department of Planning, Industry and Environment released via “A new regulatory framework” discussion paper in August 2019, were inadequate.
6. In terms of STRA day limits, most respondents preferred a regulatory model, which involved on-site management for any STRA. Around a third (31%) wanted ‘No restriction’ on rentals of STRA properties with on-site management, meaning the host could operate 365 days per year. However, for short-term rentals of primary residence properties temporarily without on-site management (e.g. the property is holiday let while the resident is away), the majority (91%) of respondents supported a ‘Less than 90-days per year’ restriction (including 40% who supported zero days restriction). For residential investment properties permanently without on-site management, 66% of respondents favoured rentals capped at ‘0-days’ (such rentals not permitted at all), while 22% supported a cap of ‘Less than 90-days per year’.
7. Most respondents felt that STRA needs to be better regulated. Over 90% of respondents suggested that regulation should include adequate enforcement of non-compliance and reporting avenues to lodge complaints of misconduct. Furthermore, 92% of respondents desired the creation of a mandatory local government operated register for all STRA - one that provides information to local or state government to support regulation (e.g. days of operation, fire safety, insurance). Almost 90% of respondents agreed that non-hosted STRAs should pay commercial council rates, as do AAPs. Further, 90% of respondents felt that AAPs were not being adequately supported by Byron Shire Council in terms of dealing with the increasing presence of STRAs across the Shire. None of the 57 respondents felt that the NSW government was sufficiently addressing the STRA phenomenon.