John MacDonald: Is Airbnb spoiling our central city?

Quite rightly, people living in the central city in Christchurch have had a gutsful of the number of places being rented out as Airbnb-type accommodation.

They’re speaking out today, saying they don’t want to live in what they call “pretend neighbourhoods”. And they want action. And I’m with them.

Because I reckon the council has sat on its hands way too long on this one. It seems to me that it’s been happy to turn a blind eye to what’s going on, in the belief that having so many Airbnbs in the centre of town is some sort of sign of progress.

But it’s not. Because, the way it’s turned out, it’s working completely against the council’s objective of having more people living permanently in the centre of town.

These residents aren’t imagining things, either. Because the numbers back them up.

In the last year, 484 new homes were built in the central city - but the number of people living permanently in the area in that same period has only increased by 50.

That’s less than 1 percent growth in the number of people living in the centre of town.

So what’s happening with the rest of the apartments and townhouses?

Some might still be on the market. But, again, here are some more numbers to back up what these central city residents are saying.

In one new development, residents there say about 80 percent of the places have become Airbnb-type properties.

At another one, on the corner of Kilmore and Manchester streets, where there are 25 new townhouses and the people living there reckon only four of them appear to be occupied by long-term residents.

As one of these central city residents is saying today: “I don’t want to live in a pretend neighbourhood.”

Ester Vallero is her name. She moved into the central city quite a while ago, in 2018. She says, since then, the number of homes around her place has increased.

But, as she put it, the excitement of getting new neighbours and the promise of living in a vibrant central city has fallen flat because of the number of places that have been snapped up and being rented out as holiday accommodation.

As another central city resident says, being surrounded by Airbnbs is worse than living next to a hotel.

Because there’s no reception, no security and the cleaners only deal with the inside of the property. And so it’s the permanent residents living nearby - like him - who end up dealing with things like overflowing rubbish and recycling bins.

There is a tiny, tiny bit of hope on the horizon. Because, next month, Christchurch city councillors will decide whether to make property owners renting out places for holiday accommodation pay business rates, instead of residential rates.

They’ll also decide whether to change resource consent requirements for owners renting out their places for holiday accommodation.

But I don’t think that goes far enough. Because that won’t necessarily lead to less Airbnbs.

What would, though, is doing what’s been done in other cities around the world.

In Barcelona, for example, by 2028 there’ll be no short-term apartment rentals. The idea behind that is to get more people living full-time in these places.

Now, I’m not saying we should go that hardcore, but I think a limit on the number of places in the centre of town that can be used for Airbnb accommodation would be a great start.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:06):
You're listening to the Canterbury Mornings podcast with John McDonald
from Newstalks edb.

Speaker 2 (00:12):
Quite rightly, people living in the central city in christ Church.
These are people who live permanently in the central city
and christ Church. They have had a guts full of
the number of places being rented out as Airbnb type
accommodation and they're speaking out today saying they don't want
to live in what they call pretend neighborhoods and they
want action. And I'm with them one hundred percent because

(00:37):
I reckon the council has said on its hands way
too long on this one. It seems to me that
it's been happy to effectively turn a blind eye to
what's going on and the belief that having so many
airbmbs in the center of town is some sort of
sign of progress. But it's not complete opposite, Actually it's not,

(00:58):
because the way it's turned out, it's working completely against
the council's objective of having more people, more people living
permanently in the center of town. And these residents they
are not imagining things either, because the numbers back them up.
How about this, this is the well you might think
this is the clincher I think it is. In the

(01:20):
last year, four hundred and eighty four new homes were
built in the Central City, right, but the number of
people living permanently in the area in that same period
has only gone up both fifty it's less that le's
less than one percent growth in the number of people
living in the center of town despite hundreds of new

(01:41):
places being built in the center of town. So what's
happening with the rest of the apartments in townhouses a
where some might still be on the market. But again,
here are some more numbers to back up what these
Central City residents are saying. In one new development, the
residents there say about eighty percent of the places have
become Airbnb type properties, because you know, it's not just Airbnb,

(02:05):
there are other platforms that that people use. And another one,
this is on the corner of Kilmore and Manchester Streets,
where there are twenty five new townhouses. The people living
there reckon only four of them appear to be occupied
by long term residents. The rest are all people with
trolley bags in for a night or two. And as

(02:26):
one of these Central City residents are saying today, quote,
I don't want to live in a pretend neighborhood. Now.
Her name's Esther Villero, and she moved into the central
City quite a while ago. Actually it was in twenty eighteen,
and she says since then the number of homes around
her place has increased bed it has. We all know that.
But here's the butt, as she puts it, the excitement

(02:50):
of getting new neighbors and the promise of living in
a vibrant central city. She says, it's fallen flat because
of the number of places that have been snapped up
and the number of them being rented out as holiday accommodation.
And there's no shortage of Central city residents lining up today.
As another one says, being surrounded by airbnbs is worse
than living next to a hotel. And they say that

(03:12):
because there's no reception, there's no security, and the cleaners
only deal with inside the property. So what that means
is the permanent residence living nearby, like this guy, They
end up dealing with things like overflowing rubbish bins and
overflowing recycling bins and stuff like that. Let alone alarms
going off in the middle of the nightmans no one there. Now,

(03:34):
there is a tiny, tiny bit of hype on the
horizon because next month Christchurch City councilors will decide whether
to make property owners renting up places for holiday accommodation
pay business rates instead of residential rates. That's one of
the things that council is looking at doing. They're also
going to decide next month whether to change resource consent
requirements for owners who want to rent out their places

(03:56):
for holiday accommodation. They'll tell you what, I don't think
that goes far enough, and I don't want to speak
on behalf of all central city permanent residents. I didn't
think though, that they will think that goes far enough either,
because it won't necessarily lead to less airbmbs, will it.
It won't mean less of the pretend suburb or the

(04:18):
pretend community that these people are talking about. What would
make a difference, though, is doing what's been done in
other cities around the world. Other cities have put limits
on Airbnb's. In fact, Barcelona, they've gone full bore gun Barcelona.
By twenty twenty eight, there will be no short term
apartment rentals in Barcelona. The idea behind that, well, it's obvious,

(04:39):
isn't it to get more people living full time in
these apartments. Now, I'm not saying we should go that
hard core, but I think a limit on the number
of places in the center of town that can be
used for Airbnb accommodation. I reckon that'd be a great start.

Speaker 1 (04:56):
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