The short answer? Possibly, but with difficulty.
The news? Short-term holiday letting is currently unregulated in NSW. However, just recently, the Government has agreed to a policy that includes an 180-night cap on the number of days a property can be rented in Sydney, Newcastle and Wollongong. It targets investors who buy up apartments to put on Airbnb, but allows owner-occupiers to continue renting spare rooms or entire units while they are not at home.
As part of this new policy, the Government will also allow strata corporations to vote to ban Airbnb in their building completely if the host does not live in the unit they are letting out.
How can this affect your home loan though? Having regulations around short-term renting may give lenders some comfort in accepting this income to assist in your affordability. At the moment, the majority of lenders will only accept rental income when it can be proved the property is rented through a real estate agency or if privately leased, as long as 3 months bank statements can be provided showing consistency of payments.
We await to see more on the upcoming months!
If you have any questions around this subject, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.