Dear Mr Andrews, On Friday December 8, your government is required to table a response to the Parliamentary Inquiry into the Owners Corporations Amendment (Short-stay Accommodation) Bill 2016.

The Victorian Government must address the state's unregulated commercial short-stay industry, if it's serious about fixing Melbourne's housing affordability crisis.

New statistics show the city's average unit price is now $564,540 – up 2.1 per cent in the last quarter.

The median house price rose to $818,000.

Melbourne is now at risk of experiencing the same housing affordability issues hurting families and crippling the Sydney market.

The situation was already at a crisis point back in July – when housing affordability in Melbourne was at its lowest level since surveys began in 2000.

According to the ABS, Victoria has the highest population growth rate in the country – rising by 2.4 per cent from March 2016 to March 2017.

The figures show the problem is only getting worse as more and more properties are taken off the rental market and listed on to commercial short-stay platforms like Airbnb.

A study from the University of Sydney clearly showed the link between the city's housing affordability crisis and commercial short-stay platforms.

It revealed an estimated 6000 homes had been removed from the rental market and placed on commercial providers.

It showed there were 1268 properties listed on Airbnb – equivalent to 144 per cent of vacant rentals in the entire city! But despite all of this, what is the Victorian Government doing to fix the crisis? Last year the Government proposed legislation which heavily favoured Airbnb, making supply problems even worse.

This month, at the launch of the Northcote by-election it targeted rental-bidding apps as a means to fix rental affordability and totally ignored the problems caused by short-term letting.

Rental reforms target the wrong apps The Victorian Government's rental app reform is targeting the wrong problem and the wrong apps, and will do nothing to place downward pressure on skyrocketing property prices.

It's not the introduction of bidding apps that got us to where we are today.

It is predominantly supply issues, and it is the multi-billion dollar, unregulated platform Airbnb that is driving down the supply of units that would otherwise be on the rental market.

Furthermore, the effectiveness of a ban on bidding apps is lost if someone in your building can put five apartments on Airbnb and no one has the power to do anything about it.

If it wants to make renting fairer and more affordable then the Government must take action now to place downward pressure on prices, and the first place to start is the unregulated short-stay industry.

Unlike bidding apps, the Airbnb app is not some emerging issue – it is real, present and is driving up prices right now. At the very least, strata members should be given the right to decide if Airbnb and other commercial short-stay operators are allowed to operate within their buildings.

We Live Here is a growing movement providing a voice for residents living in apartment blocks and now represents more than 200 buildings across Melbourne.

In addition to important concerns about affordability, residents have also experienced significant problems with Airbnb in relation to safety and security, wear and tear and amenity.

The government is considering a range of recommendations after a parliamentary committee found its proposed reforms to the short-stay industry were inadequate and unfair to residents.

Clearly, giving owners' corporations the right of self-determination when it comes to Airbnb and commercial short-term letting is an important measure that levels the playing field for residents, who've had no say for too long.

These are the significant reforms our state needs to fix the affordability and supply problems that are making it so difficult for locals in Northcote and across the greater Melbourne area.

No comfort on tram bridge

Contrary to the report of comments made by residents in 2013 and cited in Docklands News last month, the Yarra's Edge community today is not happy with the bridge concept.

Led by Phil Spender they have been long-term, vocal opponents of the scheme and welcomed the announcement in 2015 by the new Minister for Planning Richard Wynne that the tram bridge had been "ruled out".

Apart from loss of amenity, other issues concerning We Live Here members in the area in relation to the tram bridge include:

·  The effect on two parks on either side of the Yarra.

·  Docklands has been poorly treated with public open spaces, in the overdevelopment of the area.

·  Compare the lavish parklands on the north, east and south of the CBD.

·  Congestion in Collins St, west of Harbour Esplanade: Four Lend Lease towers at 883 – 889 Collins (1200 apartments) have been completed, with at least four more planned or under construction towards the Bolte Bridge.

·  ANZ II is also under construction.

Where was the transport analysis? A tram bridge will make things worse as the trams cross and stop the single lane of traffic.

We Live Here calls on Richard Wynne to honour his promise, to listen to community concerns and not bow to the pressures of big business in Fisherman's Bend.

There must be an alternative solution.

Whilst we wait for the Victorian Government's response to the recommendations of the Parliamentary Inquiry into short-stays, it is perhaps timely to review what has been happening around the country and overseas.

In May we reported that the NSW Government had swept aside the recommendations of a parliamentary report and announced a new consultative process to decide how short-stays will be regulated.

The discarded report had recommended a massive increase in short-term holiday rentals in apartment buildings.

But the NSW Minister for Planning and Regulation and the Minister for Innovation and Better Regulation, in a joint statement in April said that "broader engagement with the industry and the community was needed", and that the NSW Government was "focused on finding a common ground that effectively addresses the concerns with everyone involved".

From this evolved an Options Paper released by the NSW Ministers in July, which acknowledged that short-term letting "has the potential to generate impacts on the community if not adequately managed.

These impacts could include noise, waste, traffic and parking, safety and security, and the potential impact on housing and broader industry in general".

The Ministers' paper also stated: "There is a point where STHL [short-term holiday letting] becomes a more intensive commercial type of use." The Ministers said: "The rights of residents who live near these properties must be considered too." This was the first indication that an Australian state government was starting to understand the plight of residents living in strata communities.

We hope that the Victorian Government will follow suit.

At the municipal level, the City of Sydney has a history of seeking to regulate the industry because of its "fundamental incompatibility".

The council's position was articulated in the NSW Land and Environment Court: "There is a fundamental incompatibility between the proposed mix of residential and serviced apartments that share the same floor levels and access points, in consideration of the difference in behaviour, living and activity patterns of long-term residents compared to short-term occupants, and the greater expectations of long-term residents for quiet amenity and care for the building through a greater sense of ownership, accountability and permanence compared to temporary residents." (Council of the City of Sydney v Oaks Hotels and Resorts (NSW) No.2 Pty Limited [2011] NSW Land and Environment Court 235).

Meanwhile major cities including Berlin, Vancouver, Paris and New York are all introducing new laws to curb commercial short-stay operations in strata buildings.

Will the Victorian Government learn from global experiences? As reported in Docklands News in 2015, former local member and failed Melbourne Labor candidate, Jennifer Kanis, went to the election pledging to retrospectively legislate short-stays out of existence.

Today, We Live Here is asking for the industry to be regulated, and for the interests of long-term residents to be protected by acknowledging the differences between living in freestanding homes and living in strata buildings.

We Live Here believes owners' corporations should have the right of self-determination – that is, the ability to pass and enforce rules about use of lot that was lost in the 2016 Supreme Court decision of Justice Riorden.

This might restrict (not prohibit) commercial short-stay accommodation but any rule would need to be passed by a special resolution (75 per cent of lot owners must agree).

Clearly, the government needs to act on these concerns and bring legislation into line for this massive industry. We need a solution which puts residents, businesses and the tourism industry on a level playing field.

Airbnb threatened?

Airbnb must be feeling threatened. The multi-billion dollar global company has taken to describing community calls for regulation of the industry as being from "so-called" community groups "often funded by the hotel lobby".

Sorry Airbnb, We Live Here is solely funded by donations from long-term residents in strata buildings. Airbnb has also cast aspersions on apartment residents being Australians who cannot afford a house.

Brent Thomas, head of public policy for Airbnb told the Victorian Parliamentary Inquiry into Short-stays that a whole generation of Australians, particularly older Australians "will only ever be able to afford to live in strata buildings, particularly in the big cities" – ignoring the fact that millions of Australians have chosen an apartment lifestyle – largely before the advent of the large-scale commercial short-stay industry began to have an impact on their homes.

Meanwhile in New Zealand, Airbnb is on the back foot following a fire in a Christchurch Airbnb, which injured six guests. They are now offering 36,000 free smoke detectors to hosts, to be refunded out of future earnings.

This is a timely reminder that short-stay and Airbnb operators renting out their properties may be liable for accidents affecting paying guests because a business transaction is involved.

Cladding update 

The ABC's Four Corners program on September 11 about the dangers of inflammable cladding can still be seen on iView.

The Victorian Parliament's Environment and Planning Committee has recommended significant changes to a Bill before Parliament aimed at regulating short-stay accommodation.

After a successful campaign by We Live Here, the Short-stay Accommodation Bill was blocked in the upper house and referred to Parliament's Environment and Planning Committee.

The committee included Labor, Liberal and Greens members and was chaired by the David Davis MLC.

The Bill has now been thrown back to the lower house to be rewritten virtually from scratch.

"What is clear is the Bill presented to Parliament by the government did not address many of the key issues adequately," Mr Davis said on tabling the report. "Many provisions in the Bill were confusing and ambiguous.

Other matters raised with the committee, but clearly of concern to many apartment dwellers, were not dealt with by the Bill at all." The committee has recommended that the Victorian Government consider giving owners' corporations power to regulate short-stay accommodation in their buildings.

"Recent legal cases make it clear the current law is inadequate with owners' corporations unable to adequately regulate or manage on behalf of residents in apartment towers," Mr Davis said.

The committee also agreed with the Tourism Accommodation Association (Vic) that the government should investigate a registration and compliance regulatory framework for short-stay accommodation providers, where properties are listed for more than 90 days or a single owner has multiple listings.

We Live Here welcomes the recommendations to address concerns that thousands of residents share about the commercial short-stay industry.

The rapid rise of commercial short-term accommodation in apartment buildings is an unregulated industry and has resulted in significant detrimental impacts for residents living in those communities, including: Safety and security issues; Higher maintenance costs due to increased wear and tear; and Disruption to residents through unruly, offensive or noisy behaviour of short-stay guests.

Residents right across Victoria are growing increasingly frustrated and it's time we found a solution that puts everyone on a level playing field.

We Live Here welcomes the recommendations made and so do our members who, until now, have felt their concerns have been ignored by the government and short-stay operators.

It is gratifying to know that politicians now understand that the short-stay issue is about safety, security and the unfair cost burden on the majority of owners.

The short-stay industry results in an enormous increase in wear and tear caused by the overuse of lifts and common areas by short-stay guests and the tonnes of laundry that is dragged around every year.

We Live Here believes owners' corporations should have the right of self-determination – the ability to pass and enforce a rule which might limit commercial short-stay accommodation.

Any rule would need to be passed by special resolution, with the acceptance of 75 per cent of lot owners.

We Live Here is a voice of reason in the short-stay debate. We are here to work with all parties, to ensure a level playing field that is good for residents, for businesses and the tourism industry.

Docklands school feedback

We Live Here congratulates the Victorian School Building Authority for its community consultation workshops in Docklands last month. Community members were given a well-structured forum to discuss and document issues and priorities. An online survey was also available to gather feedback from the community.

Key themes that emerged included developing a community and natural environment – we hope the government listens. The workshop outcomes and online feedback can be found at: engage.vic.gov.au/docklandsprimary At the workshops the information flow was primarily from the community to the government.

As the project advances we hope to see the consultation continue and for detailed information to be published as it becomes available.

We Live Here will continue to support the Docklands school as an important part of developing a local community.

A proposal by casino operator Crown to build Australia's tallest building, Queensbridge Towers is set to bypass all normal planning processes and Southbank residents and owners are outraged.

The government has declared this a "project of state significance", allowing it to push through an approval (C310) without the usual scrutiny.

The new complex will result in a floor area ratio of 57:1, more than four times that allowed in New York City (12:1) or Singapore (14:1), and three times greater than the government's own Planning Scheme regulation for Melbourne (18:1) introduced in 2016.

This development will have a major impact on the City of Melbourne, including: Shadowing of the Shrine of Remembrance; Significantly increasing traffic volumes in streets south of the Yarra; The likely creation of wind tunnel effects; and Overcrowding for residents and businesses in surrounding buildings.

For five years residents have openly supported development of the site as being in the public interest provided it was respectful of the Melbourne Planning Scheme statutes, especially regarding separation between towers to protect privacy and to afford access to daylight and sunlight to all residents.

These concerns seem to have largely fallen on deaf ears.

Indeed, in approving this application the Minister for Planning has disregarded his own recently introduced Planning Scheme Amendment (C270) and the significant misgivings of statutory referral authorities to an earlier proposal, which have been sidestepped in this latest process.

We Live Here says: "The blatant circumvention and corruption of the planning process has been a cynical exercise.

It shows a complete arrogance by the government to openness and transparency." "It is an example of kowtowing to the big end of town at its worst.

It is outrageous that legitimate concerns by a wide range of state and local government authorities can be ignored." "We are angered that a hotel and apartment complex can be classed as being of ‘state significance' – what is so significant about this apartment tower over any other apartment tower that has followed the due planning process, apart from its sheer size?" The value of the uplift allowed by the new amendment (C310), and as calculated under the C270 amendment, is estimated to be $125 million.

Yet the value of the contribution to the Public Realm Improvement Plan is $65 million - a whopping $60 million "free kick" for the developer and a corresponding loss to the public coffers.

"This is a reckless and scandalous concession which must be exposed for what it is, a sweetheart deal, unprecedented in its scale," say the residents.

This application must be brought back under the umbrella of the planning process – and it can be.

The Legislative Council has the non-government numbers in the chamber to reject the amendment and thus compel the government to send the application to a planning tribunal.

It will not signify the end of the development, but ensure the processes in place for checks and balances are observed in a transparent manner and that the referral authorities such as VicRoads, City of Melbourne, PTV and others are consulted and their opinions sought on the serious implications that this proposal will have on the immediate area.

This will lead to a planning outcome that delivers a sensible win to the residents, government and developer alike – by simply following and adhering to the guidelines that the government has set itself.

We Live Here urges you to support Southbank residents by contacting your local MP to block this ill-conceived amendment.

You can also voice your concerns by signing the Southbank residents' petition which can be accessed at www.change.org The petition calls for the government and opposition to ensure this proposal goes through the proper planning process.

Update on the Parliamentary Inquiry

The public hearings for the Owners Corporation Amendment (Short-stay Accommodation) Bill 2016 inquiry concluded on April 13 and the parliamentary committee was due to deliver its report to parliament on May 11.

However by a resolution of the house the reporting date has been extended to June 8.

 A full report will be included in next month's column.

The NSW government has swept aside the recommendations of a parliamentary report and announced a new consultative process to decide how short-stays will be regulated. The discarded report had recommended a massive increase in short-term holiday rentals in apartment buildings.

But the NSW Minister for Planning and Regulation and the Minister for Innovation and Better Regulation, in a joint statement announced on Thursday, April 20, said that "broader engagement with the industry and the community was needed", and that they were "focused on finding a common ground that effectively addresses the concerns with everyone involved." The ministers said: "The rights of residents who live near these properties must be considered too." We hope that the Victorian Government will now follow suit.

Since We Live Here was founded 16 months ago we have been advocating for a level playing field for all the stakeholders involved in the short-stay debate.

But the Victorian Government's "Mickey Mouse" Bill introduced last year protected the rights of short-stay operators at the expense of residents who have chosen to make apartment living their lifestyle.

After intense lobbying by We Live Here and recognition by opposition parties that residents were being ignored in the debate the Owners Corporation Amendment (Short-Stay Accommodation) Bill 2016 was defeated in the Upper House.

It is now the subject of a parliamentary enquiry, currently being conducted by the Environment and Planning Committee.

Two public hearings (March 24 and April 13) were held and about 100 written submissions were received.

The parties invited to attend the public hearings as witnesses were: Airbnb, Brent Thomas; Australian Hotels Association, Paddy O'Sullivan; Boutique Stays, Bev Constable; City of Melbourne; St Bedes Owners Corporation, Henk van Leeuen; Holiday Rental Industry Association, Trevor Atherton; Matrix Apartments, Bronwyn McAsey and Neil Ackerman; OC Pride, Antoinette Hall; Southbank Residents Association, Tracey Allen and Dan O'Keeffe; Stayz, Michelle Chaing; Strata Community Australia (VIC), Sharon Lameris, Michael Nugent and Gregor Evans; Tourism Accommodation Australia (Victorian Branch), Dougal Hollis; Victorian Accommodation Industry Association, Paul Salter; and We Live Here, Barbara Francis, Marshall Delves and Tom Bacon.

All stakeholders were represented and had equal time to present their cases.

The committee is required to report back to Parliament by May 11. The government will then have six months to respond.

Transcripts are available at http://www.parliament.vic.gov.au/epc/article/3191 Snapshots from the hearings: Trevor Atherton and Paul Salter each promoted the self-styled Holiday Rental Code of Conduct, which has been in place for five years without any measurable effect.

The Parliamentary panel did not appear satisfied with the lack of any data supporting the "code".

Brent Thomas from Airbnb caused a stir when he disparaged apartment-dwellers as people who "could not afford to buy a house".

Mr Thomas was also asked how many multi-listing operators used his Airbnb platform but could not answer.

A Matrix Apartments (Southbank) director then testified that it operated more than 20 listings on Airbnb.

Tom Bacon from We Live Here presented a volume of hard data about the positive effect of short-stay regulation on tourism.

Since San Francisco, London, Paris and New York introduced regulation, tourism numbers and total spend have risen substantially.

All these major international cities have introduced minimum stays of between 30 and 120 days as well as "one-host-one-home" regulations.

Mr Bacon argued strongly in favour of regulation to protect and enhance the tourism sector in Victoria.

Similar views were also expressed by Tourism Accommodation Australia.

Tourism and Transport Forum Australia made a written submission in support of Tourism Accommodation Australia asking the government to empower owners' corporations to regulate short-stays.

Our submission included graphic video evidence of the enormous, costly impact on wear and tear of short stay business operations, including: Moving 80 tonnes of short-stay laundry through lifts; 50,000 suitcases in lifts every year; and Double the use of doors and lifts by short-stay guests.

We are calling on Consumer Affairs Minister Marlene Kairouz and Planning Minister Richard Wynne to: Note the lead taken by NSW; Follow the evidence that is being presented at the inquiry; and Start listening to all stakeholders, including the 200 buildings represented by We Live Here.

So far, the Victorian Government has only thought about the issue of unruly guests and hasn't offered any workable solutions for that.

However, the much bigger issues of community, amenity and unfair wear and tear costs have been ignored.

We encourage as many of you as possible to become involved and: HAVE YOUR VOICE HEARD!