Housing Affordability

Airbnb: Landlords, real estate agents move to prevent sub-lets in private rentals

http://www.first2move.com.au/ 

Some Australian real estate agents are updating their rental leases to stop tenants from secretly subletting properties on Airbnb.

Key points:

• Some real estate agents have updated leases to ban tenants from hosting through Airbnb
• Landlords say Airbnb guests put extra wear and tear on their properties
• Airbnb says renters and owners should have the right to share the home they live in

One lease, seen by the ABC, said the tenant must not use Airbnb without the "written consent" of the landlord in each instance.
Candice Deane, a senior property manager in Melbourne, said this clause gave landlords more protection.

"Security and maintenance are the main issues, and if we approve that tenant, we want that person to be the person in the property," Ms Deane told the ABC.
"We discourage [sub-letting on Airbnb]. We don't motivate it and we don't want it to happen."
Ms Deane said in one case, she discovered a tenant was renting out an apartment on Airbnb while they were away on holidays.
"She was leaving keys in the mailbox for people to come and collect. So quite a few of the other occupants got really concerned about keys being left, who's getting them and what's going to happen to her apartment," Ms Deane said.
"She was also asked to leave."
In another instance, a Melbourne tenant was making thousands of dollars a month by hosting Airbnb guests full time in a leased apartment. 

(Source: Australian Broadcasting Corporation )