Department of Justice data shows continued increase in short-term accommodation in the Northern Tasmania

The figure, as at the start of this year, comes from the Department of Justice, which released the two most recent numbers of short-term rental properties in each local government area.

Short-term accommodation like Airbnbs, are used by property owners for holiday rentals, allowing visitors to enjoy a more home-like means of accommodation while travelling.

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For the areas in Northern Tasmania, these locations have all increased since 2021.

In late 2021, the City of Launceston had 280 full short-term accommodation residences, a further 213 partial short-term accommodation places, with a further two properties not stated, totalling 495 reported premises.

Local Government Association of Tasmania chief officer Dion Lester said local government recognised that short-stay visitor accommodation was only one factor influencing housing supply and affordability in Tasmania.

"However, it is clear that it is having an impact," he said.

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City of Launceston has issued fewer permits recently. For the 2020-21 financial year, the number of permits issued for a change of use to visitor accommodation was 24, compared with 106 for the 2019-20 financial year (out of 671 applications in total), and 52 (out of a total of 664) for the 2018-19 financial year.

According to the data from Tasmania's consumer, building and occupational services, in 12 months the number of short-term stay premises in the Launceston LGA had increased by more than 100, from 403 in the first quarter in 2021, to 516 in 2022.

Smaller areas such as George Town, Meander Valley and West Tamar have also seen an increase in permits for short-stay visitor accommodation.

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Policy around issuing these permits lies with the state planning office, which is the visitor accommodation policy and planning directives for the planning scheme, which is what council's are required to enforce.

Mr Lester said evidence suggested the supply of residential properties in some locations was being reduced by the conversion of long-term rental housing to short-term holiday accommodation.

"While these services have positively contributed to Tasmania's tourism boom and economy, there is the need to differentiate between the true sharing economy - based on accommodation in a person's principle place of residence - versus a new business model for accommodation," he said.

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Mr Lester said councils needed more ability to regulate these businesses appropriately to balance the economic and tourism needs with local liveability, amenity and service considerations.

"The City of Hobart has recently initiated a planning scheme amendment to limit entire home visitor accommodation in certain areas," he said.

"This is an important test case for our sector, as councils need the ability to appropriately regulate short stay visitor accommodation, based on circumstances."

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