This report provides the results of research conducted to ascertain resident perceptions of short-term holiday lettings (STHLs), including Airbnb, within the Ballina Shire of New South Wales (NSW), Australia. The research project follows a systematic scoping study in 2017-18 of international peer-reviewed studies on the implications of Airbnb on local communities (Caldicott, von der Heidt, Scherrer, Muschter, & Canosa, 2019), and a study in 2018 of STHL in the Byron Shire (Che, Muschter, von der Heidt, & Caldicott, 2019). The current project was 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 Destination North Coast (DNC).
The objectives of this 2019 project were to extend the scope of the 2018 Byron Shire study to include the other 12 council/local government areas (LGAs) of the Mid North and North Coasts of NSW through:
1. Profiling the nature of STHL, particularly Airbnb, in the 12 communities, i.e. to determine the size, main attributes and development patterns of Airbnb in these areas.
2. Exploring, describing, and critically analysing community perspectives on the perceived impacts of Airbnb within their Shire in order to inform specific and locally appropriate policy solutions.
To address Objective 1, the SBAT research team accessed secondary data from Airbnb and BnbGuard STHL reporting services. To address Objective 2, the team conducted primary research in the form of a survey of residents, including Airbnb hosts and Approved Accommodation Providers (AAP) in each of the 12 council areas. Recognisably, every impact predominantly affects one stakeholder group over another, thereby giving rise to perceived positive, negative, or mixed effects by stakeholder grouping.
Key findings for Ballina Shire:
1. The major positive impact of Airbnb as perceived by most respondents was increased revenues for local business. Airbnb hosts also suggested that Airbnb increased local government tax revenues, but this point was not supported by other respondents.
2. The major negative impacts perceived by over half of respondents were: (1) reduced affordable housing for residents; (2) increased traffic and parking congestion; (3) increased conflicts between residents of the neighbourhood; (4) adversely effected on neighbourhood lifestyles; and (5) increased noise levels and waste management problems. Most Airbnb hosts did not perceive any negative impacts of Airbnb on community.
3. However, near-consensus was found among respondents for three further impacts, namely that Airbnb generates: (1) increased revenues for Airbnb hosts; (2) a variety of accommodation for tourists; and (3) more visitors to the local area. Each impact, thus, has potential to garner a mixed response as illustrated through a positive or negative attribute as raised above.
4. In terms of STHL day limits, most respondents preferred a model which involved mandatory on-site management for any STHL. Just over half (52%) of respondents were supportive of having ‘no restriction’ on rentals of STHL properties with on-site management, which means the host could operate 365 days per year. However, for STHL rentals of permanently non-hosted investment properties, 38% of respondents favoured rentals capped at ‘0 days’ (such rentals not allowed at all). For properties holiday-let while the permanent resident-owner is away, 28% of the respondents also favoured a cap of ‘less than 90 days per year’.
5. Most respondents (including Airbnb hosts) felt that STHL needs to be better regulated, particularly in terms of adequate reporting avenues to lodge complaints of misconduct and enforcement of non-compliance. Furthermore, the majority of respondents agreed with the need for greater public information on Airbnb-related issues within the Ballina Shire.