Some local government areas in the Greater Sydney region have a high proportion of STR properties exceeding the caps set by the NSW Government. Photo: Belle Co.
Across major cities worldwide, rising property costs and limited rental stock have fueled debate on the role of short-term rentals (STRs) in cities’ housing availability. Many jurisdictions have enacted special rules and taxes in an attempt to balance the tourism benefits of STRs with the need to maintain housing supply and amenity for their long-term residents.
For example, in the City of Sydney, Australia, regulations imposed by the state of New South Wales place a 180-night cap on non-hosted short-term rentals. The cap was introduced in the Sydney region in 2018 and expanded to other areas in the state in 2021.
However enforcement of the cap is proving difficult.
In a recent article in The Sydney Morning Herald, City of Sydney Councillor Jess Miller said poor data quality meant it was nearly impossible to enforce the cap and to distinguish which STRs were genuinely someone’s principal residence.
Deckard Technologies’ Rentalscape platform, developed by an Australia-based engineering team, analyzes over 15 million STR listings on more than 10,000 rental sites worldwide, including properties in the City of Sydney.
According to Rentalscape, more than 800 of the City of Sydney’s 2700 residential whole-property STR listings exceeded the 180-night allowance in 2024, underscoring the scale of the task faced by regulators.
Beyond the City of Sydney, other local government areas in the Greater Sydney region also host large numbers of STRs that are breaching the state’s 180-night cap.
In Inner West Council, 330 out of 684 whole-property residential listings breached the cap in 2024, while in Randwick, and Woollahra, 152 out of 475 and 92 out of 329 whole-property listings respectively were in breach.
|
|
LGA |
Residential Whole-property STRs |
Over-cap STRs in 2024 |
% over cap |
|
1 |
Inner West |
684 |
330 |
48% |
|
2 |
Randwick |
475 |
152 |
32% |
|
3 |
Sydney |
2720 |
802 |
29% |
|
4 |
Woollahra |
329 |
92 |
28% |
|
5 |
Northern Beaches |
1757 |
403 |
23% |
Sydney is far from the only city dealing with the tension between tourism and housing availability. Many governments, including the Victorian state government in Australia, now tax STR accommodation with special levies. However, applying the taxes accurately and fairly remains a challenge for local authorities worldwide.
Despite regional differences, the core issue—data-driven enforcement— is also a challenge for local governments in the United States. “We work with more than 400 U.S. local governments who are dealing with the same fundamental data problems when it comes to overseeing short-term rentals,” Deckard Technologies Chief Technology Officer Jessica Flanagan said.
“Transient occupancy taxes (TOTs) for both short-term rentals and hotels are common in the U.S., but without accurate data, it's hard discerning how many nights a property is rented, whether it’s a primary residence, and whether accurate taxes are being collected,” she said.
“Managing taxation and compliance without good data is a highly manual process and often a significant drain on local governments’ limited resources. Many are now realizing how using AI-powered software like Rentalscape can really accelerate their understanding of what’s happening in their communities, and that’s leading to better outcomes for both tourists and local residents.”
The global surge in popularity of Airbnb, Stayz, and other short-term rental platforms means governments need increasingly capable tools to regulate this fast-growing sector. Deckard Technologies is committed to helping cities strike the right balance—preserving housing availability while accommodating the economic benefits of tourism.
Rentalscape is the leading GovTech solution for streamlined short-term rental regulation and compliance, giving local governments accurate data and streamlined enforcement tools. Using advanced analytics, Rentalscape identifies STR properties even when they are not listed on major platforms. It tracks booking calendars and reservation data to measure actual rental activity, helping regulators pinpoint properties exceeding caps or failing to pay taxes. Rentalscape also integrates with tax collection systems to ensure hosts remit levies like transient occupancy taxes, reducing administrative burdens. Its comprehensive analytics and reporting capabilities offer a unified view of the STR market, enabling fair and effective regulation.
If you’re interested in learning more about how Deckard Technologies supports government teams overcoming short-term rental data challenges, contact us to schedule a consultation or demo.