Criticisms Queenstown’s council didn’t try hard enough to restrict property owners Airbnbing their homes are ‘‘largely unfounded’’, chief executive Mike Theelen says.
Through the district plan, the council wanted to significantly restrict short-term letting to free up more desperately-needed, long-term rental accommodation.
Last week, however, the Environment Court rubberstamped a consent order, which council was party to, allowing most residential property owners, as of right, to put their homes on Airbnb, or similar platforms, for up to 90 days a year.
Theelen says unfortunately the Resource Management Act (RMA), which dictates planning rules, isn’t a strong tool to manage residential activities.
‘‘Availability of rental property or prices is not a matter the RMA will really look at.
‘‘We endeavoured to provide evidence to tie it back to the RMA, but in the end I think council had to make the judgement about whether it continued to fight a battle it probably felt it had limited evidential basis to do so, or it sought a consent order.’’
Where matters have finished up, Theelen says, isn’t too different from what used to be the situation.
‘‘I think we have to recognise every property [owner] on Airbnb is also a ratepayer of this district.’’
The majority of those who participated in the RMA process, he says, ‘‘said, ‘actually, we want the flexibility to do with our house what we want to do’’’.
Long-term renting has also become less attractive due to, for example, changes in residential tenancy legislation — ‘‘people can’t go the whole trick of, ‘I’ll rent it for 12 months and flick you out over summer when I come here for my holiday’’’.
‘‘So, in some respects, Airbnb becomes a nice default.’’
What distorts our market, Theelen suggests, is Queenstown’s so attractive to people buying holiday homes and investment properties, “more so probably than anywhere else in the country”.
In its submission on government’s proposed changes to the RMA, council, he says, is likely to ask it to ‘‘actually enable councils to address the impact of short-term residential accommodation’’.
