00:00For the past 12 months, this tourist hotspot has been limiting holiday rentals
00:07in the hope it will make Byron Shire more affordable for locals.
00:11We fought for years, our community fought for years to get these changes.
00:16Now the numbers are starting to come in.
00:19While registered short-stay rentals have been trending up slightly statewide,
00:24Byron has seen a fall of around 15% over the past two years.
00:29Even if we got 20% of those houses back, 10%, that still makes a dent in the availability.
00:37But the figures are yet to show a boost in long-term rental stock.
00:41Housing data shows the monthly rental listings in Byron Bay and across the state
00:46drops last month compared to previous years.
00:49And rental vacancy rates are also down.
00:52Most of our owners invested in a holiday property to use it themselves.
00:56We've seen a lot of owners just sit and lock up their property.
00:59The business sector says the 60-day cap has hurt trade.
01:03Reid Campbell has had to reduce staff and cut hours at his linen hire business.
01:08He says cleaners, gardeners and tradies have all come to him looking for work.
01:13People in those industries asking if there's any extra work out with us and unfortunately there isn't.
01:19Let's stop and put in place a better solution than the 60-day cap.
01:24But housing charities say the cap is making a difference on the margins.
01:29Entire families that were locked out for long periods of time have gotten access to rental properties.
01:37Some single parents I know that were also homeless for several years have also got rental properties.
01:43The mayor says she knows Byron's experiment is being watched closely by other regions with housing shortages.
01:49Airbnb really does change the fabric of a community.
01:53The future of this town still up for debate.
01:56The future of this town still up for any first time is being watched.
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