Under the Queenstown council's district plan, property owners who rent homes for less than three months and to more than four people must apply for a resource consent and pay higher rates.
The move has horrified many locals and the Real Estate Institute, which fears it could affect house values and the holiday rental market. Its president, Howard Morley, says the institute believes it has strong legal grounds to fight the plans.
The institute had received legal advice that the changes were not consistent with the district council's functions under the Resource Management Act.
Morley said the policy could impact on the whole house rental market.
'I'm convinced it would affect house values anywhere it was applied. It's another cost of owning real estate.'
He said people would remove houses from the rental market, making accommodation scarce in remote areas.
But Queenstown Lakes' Mayor Clive Geddes said the issue was simply a matter for the council and its ratepayers.
He said the institute was protecting itself for selling homes without giving proper advice about the need for resource consents.
'They have used this ability to put homes into the short-term letting market as a means of selling real estate. They haven't been saying to those people, 'There's a consent process'.'
Geddes said the council did not intend to enforce the rules for homeowners who let out their homes only occasionally. Instead, it planned to target non-resident owners clearly engaged in the visitor accommodation business. Some Queenstown home-owners were grossing $40,000 to $50,000 a year through rentals, he said.
Rules distinguishing between commercial and non-commercial rental levels would be announced this month.
Need help or
support?
