The City of Sydney Council's recent motion to explore restricting short-term rentals in 11 inner-city suburbs has drawn criticism from Krystina Cleary, founder of Cleary & Co, who says the focus should be on enforcing existing laws rather than imposing new bans. Data shows that of 5,454 active short-term rental listings in the local government area, only 2,468 are officially registered under the NSW Short-Term Rental Accommodation framework, leaving more than 3,000 operating outside legal requirements.
Cleary argues that the narrative linking Airbnb to the housing crisis is misleading. 'Less than 2% of Sydney's housing stock is listed on Airbnb,' she said. 'The real problem is the 3,000 unregistered hosts nobody is policing.' She contends that penalizing homeowners who follow the rules while unregistered operators evade detection weakens the regulatory system.
The City of Sydney motion, passed on 28 April 2026, directs the CEO to investigate restricting non-primary-residence short-term rentals in suburbs including Darlinghurst, Surry Hills, Pyrmont, Potts Point, and Chippendale, where rental vacancy rates are below 3 percent. However, Cleary warns that affected homeowners are often individuals using property income to fund retirement, medical expenses, or businesses, not large-scale investors.
'Under a ban, these owners would be hamstrung into a long-term rental model that does not allow them to use their properties for personal use and which is capped in terms of income,' she said, noting that similar restrictions in Byron Bay did not succeed. Current NSW law caps non-hosted short-term rentals in Greater Sydney at 180 days per year, with no cap for hosted properties, and bookings of 21 or more consecutive nights are exempt.
Cleary & Co, founded in 2017, manages over 100 properties across Sydney's inner suburbs and holds Airbnb Superhost and Guest Favourite status. The company offers services including interior design, professional photography, listing optimisation, and compliance advisory. For more information, visit Cleary & Co's website.
Despite regulatory uncertainty, Cleary remains optimistic about the market's future, predicting a shift toward high-quality experiences. 'Unscrupulous hosts have no long-term staying power,' she said. 'The Airbnb model is a necessary option because hotels are no longer practical for many travellers.'
