Council to crack down on illegal holiday letting

Published on 19 April 2023

Byron Shire Council is cracking down on people who are holiday letting secondary dwellings that were approved for affordable housing.

Mayor Michael Lyon said it’s time to take a close look at people who had development applications approved for secondary dwellings but are using these properties for tourist accommodation.

“The NSW Independent Planning Commission (IPC) is still to hand down its decision after its inquiry into Council’s Planning Proposal to cap short term rental accommodation to 90 days in the majority of the Byron Shire,” Mayor Lyon said.

“While I am confident the IPC will come out in support of Council, there is more that we, as an organisation, can do to try to free up more long-term housing for people,” he said.

Applications for new homes and secondary dwellings may now be approved with the condition that they are not to be used for short-term or holiday rentals.

“In addition to this, staff will be enforcing consent conditions for existing properties that do not have approval for short-term accommodation,” Mayor Lyon said.

“From 2011 to 2019 Council was providing people with financial incentives to develop secondary dwellings on their properties as a way of providing more affordable housing, but while we had the best of intentions, things didn’t go according to plan.

“Some people realised they could make more money by holiday letting and in the end there was no evidence of any increase in housing stock so Council stopped waiving development fees.

“Staff will now start checking development consents along with doing targeted investigations into what properties are being used for and if necessary, we will take owners to court,” Mayor Lyon said.

“We are asking the NSW Government to allow us to do more to curb holiday letting and we also need to step up to the plate.

“We have recently received clarity about Council’s ability to enforce consent conditions and we now understand a successful case can be made against people who are holiday letting their properties in contravention of their development approvals.

“While this will involve the allocation of resources, solving the issue of housing affordability will require a range of solutions of which this is one,” Mayor Lyon said.

For media interviews contact Byron Shire Mayor, Michael Lyon, on 0435 646 365.