Airbnb has announced that from November 20, hosts will no longer be allowed to ask guests to complete check-out chores after paying a cleaning fee. The change has angered hosts worldwide, with some online petitions and a planned nationwide host blackout on November 20. Sydney host club leader Felicity Stevens said it is not too much to ask guests to run the dishwasher and put out the rubbish. Airbnb said the changes aim to make house rules clearer and check-out requests more reasonable, while hosts can still set their own rules.
Airbnb guests will no longer be asked to strip beds, wash dishes or remove rubbish when they check out. The new rules apply to bookings made on or after November 20, including bookings in Australia. Hosts can still ask for simpler tasks, such as placing used dishes in the sink, and can set their own cleaning fees. Some hosts have criticised the change, warning it could raise costs and push smaller operators off the platform. Townsville host Nadia Di Martino said she may leave Airbnb and rent to students instead.
Airbnb has banned hosts from requiring guests to complete tasks normally done by a cleaner, such as stripping beds or washing dishes. The change applies to bookings made on or after November 20 and was announced by email to hosts. Many hosts have criticised the move online, while some guests have welcomed it. Airbnb says hosts can still make reasonable requests, such as asking guests to rinse dishes or take short showers. Hosts who break the rules may receive warnings, have listings removed or be banned from the platform.
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City of Sydney for Palestine and housing justice organisers are calling on City of Sydney Council to boycott Airbnb. The groups also want stronger laws on short-stay rentals. The campaign argues that Airbnb helps enable tourism in illegal Israeli settlements in the Occupied West Bank, a claim made by the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement. The groups say short-term rentals also worsen Sydney's housing crisis, citing a 2.1 per cent vacancy rate and 10,531 active Airbnb listings. They point to New York City's Local Law 18 as a model for registration and verification.
Owners of new apartment complexes may have to decide whether to allow Airbnb as one of their first orders of business, under proposed changes to the Strata Titles Act. Planning Minister John Carey said the change would bring greater certainty, as disputes over the issue can drag on. Under the proposal, owners would not be able to change their decision later, although an individual owner could still move their apartment into Airbnb use. Shadow planning minister Neil Thomson criticised the delay in the review and called for it to be completed promptly.
An Airbnb host has shared on Reddit that they stopped using the platform after finding a large extra fee. The host said guests wanting a 90-day stay were charged a 50 per cent surcharge on the monthly rate, which the host said was added by Airbnb and Evolve, a property management company. The host said they then offered the guests a short-term lease directly. Many Reddit users agreed with the decision, though one commenter doubted the post was true.
