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Tourism hotspots across Western Australia are being flooded by short-stay accommodation listings, with hundreds of Airbnb listings recorded compared to a small handful of available rentals.
The WA Greens have called on the state government to enact a moratorium on short-stay approvals followed by a levy to reduce the number of un-hosted short-stay homes, to manage the growing crisis.
WA Greens MP Tim Clifford moved a motion in parliament, stating the un-hosted short-stay accommodation industry was growing at an unsustainable rate, leading to serious shortages in the long-term rental market across WA.
He called on the state government to act, and stop using tourism as an excuse to let it continue.
“This is not an attack on tourism or people wanting to rent out a spare room. There is a legitimate place for short-stay accommodation in Western Australia,” he said.
“But we are seeing a large-scale, out-of-control conversion of entire residential-use homes. That distinction matters because Western Australia, as we all know, is in an absolute housing crisis.
“The uptake of short-stay accommodation by people utilising services such as Airbnb is removing thousands of houses directly out of our housing stock and rental market.”
The state government has introduced a registrar for short-stay accommodation and Clifford said around 12,000 properties were listed.
He went on to reference a recent report put forward by Shelter WA called Death by 10,000 Cuts: A report on the impact of short-term rental accommodation in Western Australia.
That report estimated that if one in three of those un-hosted properties was returned to the long-term rental market, available rental supply would double.
It also found 56 per cent of owners of un-hosted short-stay accommodation in WA had two or more properties listed.
In Fremantle, there were 22 un-hosted Airbnb properties in Fremantle for every available private rental property and data from Inside Airbnb shows there was a total of 534 properties advertised – with 65 per cent of listers owning multiple properties.
In Augusta–Margaret River, Shelter WA’s data identified 859 un-hosted Airbnb properties to only 20 available rental properties.
Inside Airbnb shows there are even more – 956 properties, with more than 65 per cent of listers owning multiple listings.
Across the Busselton, Dunsborough and Yallingup areas, 1675 listings were available on Airbnb – 14.3 per cent of all listings in the state.
In all areas, more than 90 per cent are entire homes and not single rooms or shared accommodation.
“We see reports and media releases being put forward on how many projects there are, a lot of which are good, but there is a focus on builds. The real solution to the housing stock issue is right in our faces,” Clifford said.
“We have thousands of full homes that have been consumed by investors wanting to rent out short-stay accommodation for profit.”
But Clifford said that was why he had called on the government to “introduce a moratorium and stop all planning approvals – to have an absolute freeze – and then introduce a levy”.
“A levy would remove the financial incentive for homeowners to get into the short-stay accommodation market. We need to focus on decreasing the amount of short-stay accommodation in our community because we need to make sure that the numbers actually go down,” he said.
“We have seen that a short-stay levy has been introduced in Victoria, and that has been effective.
“There is a bunch of different measures that a lot of jurisdictions across the world have pursued, yet this state government has barely done anything about it.”
Minister Jackie Jarvis responded to Clifford’s motion in parliament on behalf of the state government, and said she recognised there were ongoing pressures in the housing and rental markets.
“We are building thousands of homes, we are unlocking land, we are supporting new projects to get new houses off the ground and we are growing our construction workforce, which is also important,” she said.
“This government has also delivered significant reforms to regulate the short-term rental market, which is the subject of this motion today.
“The honourable member said something along the lines that the government has not done anything about the issue of short-term rentals. That is not true.”
Jarvis pointed to a mandatory statewide short-term rental accommodation regulatory framework which was part of a 2024 reform package.
“There are new short-term rental land use terms, which were introduced to be incorporated into local planning schemes, that recognise, for the first time ever, both hosted and un-hosted short-term rental accommodation as distinct forms of accommodation,” she said.
“Un-hosted properties in the Perth metro area now require a development approval from the relevant local government if they are to be rented out for more than 90 nights in any 12-month period.
“We knew that we needed more flexibility in regional areas. There is no one silver bullet.”
Jarvis, who lives in Augusta–Margaret River, said her region relied on tourism.
“Tourism workers have jobs because of short-term rentals, in some small part. It is a wicked problem. I know we do not have enough housing in my community, but I also know that a lot of tourism workers rely on having people coming to short-term accommodation options,” she said.
“I think the honourable member said something about these properties being vacant for most of the year. That is certainly not my experience when I look around.
“I also see a number of farmers who diversify their income by having a second house on their property that is used for short-term rental holiday accommodation.
“I know people who are artists and creatives who have a second area on their property that also adds to their income. That income is spent locally.”
Jarvis said ultimately, the government accepted short-term rentals must be appropriately managed, but “we have delivered regulatory reform to ensure that can happen.”
Liberal MP Neil Thomson also said he would not support Clifford’s motion.
“His heart is in the right place … but it is a case of the adage of what the road to hell is paved with. Good intentions are not enough for us to support this motion,” he said.
“This government has failed to keep its eye on the ball in the development of housing and it has failed to make sure that we have less red tape and a more friendly environment for investment.
“I certainly cannot support more red tape in the short-stay accommodation sector.”
Despite receiving support from fellow Greens members and the Animal Justice Party, Clifford’s motion ultimately lapsed, pursuant to standing orders.
Holly Thompson is a journalist with WAtoday, specialising in education and the environment.Connect via X or email.From our partners
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