Logan City Council has called for the state government to allow body corporates to ban short-stay accommodation.
It follows one councillor receiving multiple reports of “security issues” at complexes in the city, and several years of alarmingly low rental vacancies.
Every month, Logan suburbs make the list of the worst rental conditions in the country.
Among the market’s worst features, which includes rent consuming more than 40 per cent of income in some suburbs, is vacancy rates consistently sitting at around 1 per cent.
Suburbtrends, a property market research company, claimed this showed a market “unfavourable to renters”.
While renters are finding it tough to secure a place to live, and with homelessness in the city rising, there are upwards of 500 Airbnbs in Logan.
A spokesperson for the company refused to say how many registered Airbnbs there were in the city, but according to its app, the number ranges from 380 to more than 500 depending on the time of year.
At a meeting earlier this month, council endorsed a motion that would ask the Local Government Association of Queensland (LGAQ) to call upon the state government to “to enable body corporates to pass by laws that prohibit or restrict short-stay accommodation”.
Cr Lisa Bradley – whose division covers Priestdale, Springwood, Rochedale South, and part of Daisy Hill – was the councillor to raise the issue.
“This motion came about after a body corporate contacted me in June following security issues with an Airbnb,” Cr Bradley said.
“It’s not the first time I’ve raised such matters, nor the first body corporate to express such concerns.”
Cr Bradley said she raised the issue at a council meeting in December 2022.
“I enquired whether the state government was looking at Airbnb’s and the impact on housing affordability,” she said.
“I gave an example of a nine-bedroom house advertised on Airbnb for $80 per room, per night – that equates to $720 per night and that was 2022.”
She compared Logan’s vacancy rate at the end of 2020, which was 2.8 per cent, to the April 2024 rate, which was 1 per cent.
“In June, Brisbane City council introduced a permit system in their budget for short stay accommodation to ensure proper planning approvals, access to a 24-hour property manager, and a guest code of conduct,” Cr Bradley said.
“The permit is the city’s attempt to increase its rental supply.
“Owners will need seek planning approvals for the permit in a measure hoped to force them to operate under greater accountability.”
Cr Bradley said this regulation, combined with the impacts of migration and the 2032 Brisbane Olympics, would attract more short-stay accommodation to Logan.
“One may say this is a periodic problem likely to level out, but the pressures are acute and hardest felt for our most vulnerable residents – like over 55s, those with disabilities – and there is no robust solution around the corner,” she said.
“Whilst our short-term accommodation market may be small comparative to Gold Coast city council or Brisbane City council, it is an extremely lucrative business model and not subject to the same regulatory oversight as long-term rentals.”
She said council needed to “strike the right balance” of regulation to support both residents of and visitors to Logan.
