In a massive win for the community, the NSW government announced a 60-Day Cap on short-term holiday lets in Byron Shire. The Greens have been backing the Byron community's calls for real action to regulate short-term holiday lets for years.
The only problem is - Labor want us to wait 12 months for the 60-Day cap to come into effect.
Thousands of people are in severe rental stress because short-term holiday lets have made the housing market completely unaffordable for everyday families. Already, Byron Shire has the highest homeless population in New South Wales - even more than the entire City of Sydney.
The Greens' message is simple: the housing crisis is today. And we can't afford to wait.
Essential homelessness support services in Byron are going without the funding they desperately need, and the Labor government has refused to regulate unfair rent increases or adequately invest in social housing, in a move described as "deeply disappointing" by the Community Housing Industry Association.
If this is the only reform on the horizon, then it can't wait a year.
The Greens are calling on the NSW Planning Minister to implement the 60-Day Cap immediately, in consultation with the Byron Shire Council.
We're also calling for comprehensive regulation of short-term holiday letting across New South Wales, including in other effected LGAs such as Tweed, Ballina, Shoalhaven and the City of Sydney. We can't keep delaying action on the housing crisis.
Pressure from the community persuaded Labor to announce a 60-Day cap, and pressure can persuade them to make it happen now.
