29 January 2025
The SA Greens will move to establish an inquiry to investigate strategies to regulate short stay accommodation and incentives that could be provided to transition properties onto the long term rental market when State Parliament returns next week.
Data released by the Greens this week has revealed that on January 21 there were only 2524 properties listed on the long-term rental market across SA on realestate.com.au while more than 9000 properties were listed for short-stay accommodation like Airbnb. The issue is even more pronounced on SA’s coastlines, with just 19 long term rentals advertised online compared to more than 1000 short stays on the Fleurieu south coast.
“Short term rentals are having a huge impact on the housing supply across the state, including in regional and coastal areas where houses are sitting vacant for six months of the year during the off-season. Meanwhile, we have desperate people sleeping on the street," said Greens SA Housing Spokesperson Robert Simms MLC.
“Many places around the world have taken action to regulate short stay accommodation. In 2023, the Victorian Government introduced a levy on short-stay accommodation to generate more money for social housing. Here in SA however, the State Government seems to be sitting on its hands.”
“It’s clear that existing policy settings simply aren’t working. I urge the Labor and Liberal parties to back this inquiry so that we can work together to find solutions.”
The terms of reference of the inquiry are below:
That a Select Committee of the Legislative Council be established to inquire and report on the short stay accommodation sector in South Australia with particular reference to:
- The role of short stay accommodation in contributing to the rental affordability crisis;
- The social and economic impacts of short stay accommodation on South Australian communities;
- The potential to regulate the short-stay accommodation sector;
- The effectiveness of regulatory models adopted in other jurisdictions, both nationally and overseas;
- Potential taxes or levies that could be applied to short stay accommodation and long term vacant residential property;
- Incentives that could be provided to homeowners to transition properties listed on short stay accommodation platforms onto the long-term rental market;
- Other strategies that could be adopted to activate residential property that is vacant long-term; and
- Any other related matters.