New rules governing Christchurch's Airbnb sector 'difficult' to enforce

Friday, 8 April 2022

Council admits new short-term accommodation rules will be difficult to enforce.

New rules governing Airbnb-style accommodation will be difficult for Christchurch City Council to enforce.

Council staff made the admission this week after the council decided to require people who rent out properties as unhosted visitor accommodation in residential areas to obtain a resource consent.

The consent will cost at least $1000 but will not expire.

Airbnb has described the new measures as “the most restrictive and outdated” home-sharing laws in Australasia. The decision can be appealed to the Environment Court, but Airbnb has not yet said if it will appeal.

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Airbnb says the council has accepted recommendations that severely restrict how locals share their own homes. (File photo)

The council does not know which homes in the city are operated as visitor accommodation and identifying their location will be “difficult and resource intensive” without a register that lists those homes, council regulatory compliance head Tracey Weston said.

There was no requirement for owners and operators like Airbnb to tell the council the addresses that were listed with them.

Airbnb has described new Christchurch City Council rules as the “most restrictive and outdated” home-sharing laws in Australasia.

Weston said it was up to the property owners to advise council.

She said it was anticipated that some operators would voluntarily apply for a consent because it would legitimise their business and provide some protection from potential complaints.

However, if the Government passed legislation necessitating registration, the council would be able to enforce the rules more easily, Weston said.

The Christchurch City Council plans to place new rules on people renting out their homes to short-term visitors. (First published December 2020)

“Without the provision of voluntary information, achieving compliance will be time-consuming, but still possible.”

A register does not appear to be a priority for the Government at this point.

In 2020, the Government set up a short-term rental accommodation working group to analyse issues affecting the industry. Its aim was to develop a better understanding of the sector’s impact on tourism, and the rental market, and look at its contribution to overall economic activity.

This week, Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment tourism policy acting manager Sally Page said the group was paused due to Covid-19 and other priorities. There were no plans to resurrect the group.

Airbnb and Bookabach have in the past supported the idea of the Government creating a nationwide registration system and a mandatory and enforceable code of conduct for owners, managers and guests.

Under the new rules a consent will be needed for homes rented out for less than 60 nights a year for a maximum of six guests. The council can not decline the application – it can only put conditions on the consent. This is likely to cost about $1000.

If a property is being rented out for more than 60 nights a year with up to 12 guests it will be classed as a “discretionary activity”. Again, a consent is needed, but the council can consider impacts on neighbours, including noise and traffic movements, before deciding whether to grant or decline the consent.

This also applies to homes being rented out for less than 60 nights with between six and 12 guests.

The fees to process a discretionary activity consent, without notification to neighbours or the wider public, could range from $1500 to $4000. However, the cost was likely to be more if neighbours had to be notified.

Consent was not needed if people who live in the home rent out rooms for up to six guests.

Christchurch Holiday Homes business director Sue Harrison said her company was not against complying with rules, but she was worried about wider implications of applying for a consent.

The council’s website states using a building for short-term accommodation might not comply with the Building Act and could mean the use of the building has changed. This could lead to increased fire protection measures to meet the building code.

Changing the use of a property could also have an impact on the way rates were calculated, the council said.

Council head of planning and consent John Higgins said the council would not be checking homes to make sure they complied with the Building Act before granting a consent, but property owners were required to comply with the act.

Higgins said a number of councils had been asking Government for better guidance in terms of how the building act and building code applied to this situation.

Regarding the type of rates charged, council chief financial officer Leah Scales said if the council was aware a property was used predominantly for short-term accommodation, it would be classed as a business.

“This is similar to the way we would treat other businesses operating from a residential address.”

Businesses were charged 1.7 times the residential rate.

She said the council would review how rates would be charged for unhosted short-term accommodation once the appeal process was completed.

Airbnb New Zealand and Australia manager Susan Wheeldon said at a time when New Zealand’s borders were set to open to international travellers and every region in the country was vying for long-awaited tourism dollars, the council was moving forward with some of the “most restrictive and outdated home sharing laws in Australasia”.

“Council has accepted recommendations that severely restrict how locals share their own homes, which will only serve to hurt jobs and the livelihoods of many at a time when economic recovery is more important than ever.”