Life And Society / Housing

Queenstown cracks down on Airbnb

06:43 am on 9 November 2017

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The Queenstown Lakes District council has voted to slash the number of days people living outside the town centre can rent out their homes on short-term platforms like Airbnb. The council says there's a serious shortage of housing for workers and permanent residents, and the 28-day limit should free up more houses for general renting. But Airbnb is up in arms - saying it's a bad idea and the decision-making process was flawed. Airbnb's manager for Australia and New Zealand, Brent Thomas, told our reporter Emile Donovan the company hopes to persuade the council to pull back on the plan.