Quite rightly, people living in the central city in Christchurch have had a gutsful of the number of places being rented out as Airbnb-type accommodation.

They’re speaking out today, saying they don’t want to live in what they call “pretend neighbourhoods”. And they want action. And I’m with them.

Because I reckon the council has sat on its hands way too long on this one. It seems to me that it’s been happy to turn a blind eye to what’s going on, in the belief that having so many Airbnbs in the centre of town is some sort of sign of progress.

But it’s not. Because, the way it’s turned out, it’s working completely against the council’s objective of having more people living permanently in the centre of town.

These residents aren’t imagining things, either. Because the numbers back them up.

In the last year, 484 new homes were built in the central city - but the number of people living permanently in the area in that same period has only increased by 50.

That’s less than 1 percent growth in the number of people living in the centre of town.

So what’s happening with the rest of the apartments and townhouses?

Some might still be on the market. But, again, here are some more numbers to back up what these central city residents are saying.

In one new development, residents there say about 80 percent of the places have become Airbnb-type properties.

At another one, on the corner of Kilmore and Manchester streets, where there are 25 new townhouses and the people living there reckon only four of them appear to be occupied by long-term residents.

As one of these central city residents is saying today: “I don’t want to live in a pretend neighbourhood.”

Ester Vallero is her name. She moved into the central city quite a while ago, in 2018. She says, since then, the number of homes around her place has increased.

But, as she put it, the excitement of getting new neighbours and the promise of living in a vibrant central city has fallen flat because of the number of places that have been snapped up and being rented out as holiday accommodation.

As another central city resident says, being surrounded by Airbnbs is worse than living next to a hotel.

Because there’s no reception, no security and the cleaners only deal with the inside of the property. And so it’s the permanent residents living nearby - like him - who end up dealing with things like overflowing rubbish and recycling bins.

There is a tiny, tiny bit of hope on the horizon. Because, next month, Christchurch city councillors will decide whether to make property owners renting out places for holiday accommodation pay business rates, instead of residential rates.

They’ll also decide whether to change resource consent requirements for owners renting out their places for holiday accommodation.

But I don’t think that goes far enough. Because that won’t necessarily lead to less Airbnbs.

What would, though, is doing what’s been done in other cities around the world.

In Barcelona, for example, by 2028 there’ll be no short-term apartment rentals. The idea behind that is to get more people living full-time in these places.

Now, I’m not saying we should go that hardcore, but I think a limit on the number of places in the centre of town that can be used for Airbnb accommodation would be a great start.

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