People renting out their empty Sydney properties through online home-sharing services will soon be subject to harsher restrictions under new laws that will also empower strata corporations to ban the practice in their buildings.
The proposal, announced by the NSW government on Tuesday, specifically targets vacant and investment properties using services such as Airbnb.
Owners that don't live in their property will only be able to use it for short-term letting for a maximum of 180 days a year within greater Sydney. Properties in the rest of NSW will be left uncapped.
The laws will also impose a 'two strike' policy, meaning home-share users will be banned for five years from any platform for committing two serious breaches within two years.
Under the new restrictions, described as some of the toughest in the world by NSW's Minister for Better Regulation Matt Kean, an apartment complex can also block a host from leasing on Airbnb if they do not live in the unit.
It requires 75 per cent of strata owners vote against the owner using Airbnb.
Despite the harsh crackdown on a NSW industry that was relatively unregulated, Airbnb's Chris Lehane welcomed the restrictions.
"It's a policy that is innovative, it's a policy that is fair and balanced," the company's US-based global head of policy told reporters in Sydney.
Mr Lehane believes the NSW approach could be used as a model across the world.
The government plans to implement a new mandatory code of conduct for homesharing services to abide by, with tough financial penalties for any breach.
It will require home-sharing companies to provide data to the NSW government, something Mr Lehane said Airbnb was happy to do.
"We certainly look forward to working cooperatively and constructively with the NSW government."
He said the company had already engaged in about 500 government partnerships across the world.
NSW Greens MP Justin Field said the reforms did not go far enough.
"The one-size-fits-all approach ignores the unique challenges of short term holiday letting presents to certain communities," he said in a statement.
