Rotorua Lakes Council has proposed a change to its District Plan to clarify provisions relating to holiday rental accommodation.
The proposal comes after several complaints from neighbours of the holiday rentals who have raised issues of noise and excess people and cars.
A report prepared for today's council meeting says while the short-term rental of holiday homes has been a traditional part of New Zealand holiday accommodation options, in recent years commercial companies such as Air BnB, Holiday Homes and Book a Bach had increased the number of homes available.
Several issues had been identified through complaints from neighbours of the holiday rental homes, including large numbers of people staying at a house. This had resulted in noise from cars arriving and leaving, from people in and around the house as well as using outdoor areas late at night and causing a disturbance.
Inadequate parking leading to cars parking on berms in front of other homes or across driveways was another issue.
Other issues identified but outside the scope of the plan were a trigger for commercial rates (when a property is rented as a holiday home for more than 100 nights of the year) and compliance with firefighting requirements under the Building Act.
The proposal to the District Plan looks to make several minor additions and alterations to the provisions to provide for small-scale holiday rental accommodations as a permitted activity subject with compliance to performance standards.
These include defining holiday rental accommodation and listing it as a permitted activity, adding performance standards relating to maximum numbers, parking and noise compliance and identifying that non-compliance will be considered as a discretionary activity.
The report says the exact number of houses offered as holiday rental accommodation in the Rotorua district is not known because there is no database.
However, Book a Bach lists 443 properties and Air BnB lists more than 300. Only 8 per cent of the Book a Bach homes cater for more than 12 people.
Other councils have also considered options for better control including Queenstown Lakes District Council and Thames Coromandel District Council.
