The Brisbane City Council has announced it will increase rates bills by 50 per cent for properties rented for more than 60 days a year on short term accommodation sites like Airbnb and Stayz, reports the ABC.
University of Queensland researcher Dr Thomas Sigler said less than 2 per cent of Brisbane dwellings are listed on Airbnb and the move would not be a deterrent to hosts.
The Queensland Council of Social Services chief executive Aimee McVeigh told the ABC that reversing the council’s 2020 ban on townhouse and apartment developments in inner-city suburbs like Paddington and Ashgrove would make a bigger different to the housing crisis.
“I think it’s really good to see the Lord Mayor acknowledge the squeeze in the rental market in Brisbane,” Ms McVeigh said.
“It is really important local government has robust housing policies, but if we look at this closely, what it really means is that those investors would pay about an extra $10 a week to list their homes on Airbnb.”
The Real Estate Institute of Queensland encouraged state and local governments to look at comprehensive solutions that would go to the source of the rental problem.
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