At Bookabach not every rental is a straightforward second home. Plenty of advertisers on Bookabach are letting their primary residence, or offering homestay and farmstay accommodation to holidaymakers, says Peter Miles, Bookabach general manager.
People who live in popular holiday destinations can rent their home out for a good return over the peak summer period. "We've also seen a few folks letting both their homes and baches, vacating whichever they've rented out," says Miles.
I see this happening in my suburb. A near neighbour lets her entire home on Airbnb when she takes her annual trip to Europe. There are often advertisements on the Neighbourly website and in school newsletters from families looking to let their homes while they're away on holiday. The tenants are often overseas-based grandparents wanting to visit family.
Letting your home this way makes a lot of financial sense. If you're paying good money for holiday accommodation, why not get $400 to $700 or more a week back?
With the advent of websites such as Airbnb.com and SharedSpace.co.nz, letting single bedrooms and other spaces in an otherwise occupied home has become a lot easier.
I've been an Airbnb fan from the day I discovered it. This international website, with 1.2 million listings worldwide, started life as a booking website for people who wanted to provide bed and breakfast to tourists. About 3000 people in New Zealand let private bedrooms through the site.
I've used Airbnb to rent apartments and rooms in South American countries. The most memorable was a room for two in a private home in an upmarket suburb of Rio de Janiero. We found ourselves in the home of nationally renowned musician Osvaldo Rui da Costa, aka "Macau".
Kiwis are doing exactly the same — letting their spare rooms to tourists from all corners of the world.
Some are very enterprising. "South East Auckland Share House" on Airbnb in Sylvia Park has put bunk beds in the spare bedrooms and lets them for $22 a night to backpackers and offers tent spaces in the backyard for $14 a night. And a bunch of flatmates in Ponsonby are letting their home office to "crash in" for $25 a night.
I was also impressed with "The Treehut", which is literally a tree hut to rent at $35 a night. A Mangere family lets a bedroom in the garage for $29 and gets lots of business thanks to being close to the airport.
It's not quite as easy as it sounds. On sites such as Bookabach and Airbnb your ability to get a continuous supply of tenants requires a great advertisement, appealing photographs and plenty of good feedback.
Student homestays can be easier. Homestays usually pay $200 or more a week for accommodation and food and stay for a fixed time.
A friend of mine approached Takapuna Grammar School to discuss letting a room in a few months when her son moved out. Her arm was twisted by the school and she turned her second living area into a bedroom. A student moved in two days later.
Matt Knight, who runs the SharedSpace.co.nz website, sees a steady stream of residential accommodation let for commercial uses. Bedrooms and sleepouts become offices and therapy rooms.
Whether it's residential or commercial, anyone wanting to rent space in their home does need to stop and think about issues such as code compliance, tax, tenancy laws and insurance.
Tenancy laws are the first fish-hook. Long-term tenancies are covered by the Residential Tenancies Act (RTA). Flatmates, boarders, students and commercial tenants aren't. If, however, you exceed six tenants at one time you might create a "boarding house" and are then caught by the RTA, says Scotney Williams, of Tenancy Practice Service.
Another issue is the legality of the property. In New Zealand we have a bit of a "she'll be right" attitude to letting illegally fitted-out flats with unpermitted kitchens and bathrooms.
However, section 45 of the RTA requires landlords rent "healthy and compliant dwellings", no matter what you call them, says Williams. It is unlawful technically to rent dwellings unless they comply with council regulations.
It's certainly not okay to throw a kitchen and/or toilet into the garage and let it without going through council compliance.
It happens. If caught, the council could order the non-compliant facilities, extensions or room dividing walls be removed. This is whether or not you did the alternations or the previous owner did.
The best way to find out if your property is legal in terms of the Building Act and Resource Management Act is to view the property and planning file to see if the building is used as proposed in the consent plans, says Barry Smedts at Auckland Council.
If the home or sleepout doesn't comply, a tenant could dob in the owner to the council. Tenants could also be awarded "exemplary damages" by the Tenancy Tribunal.
That's one of the reasons some homeowners prefer to have informal tenants. Among other benefits, owners don't need to give 90 days' notice for the tenancy to end.
Commercial lettings are usually on a monthly basis and if the tenant doesn't pay the tenancy ends, says Knight. With commercial lets through SharedSpace.co.nz, owners usually buy a licence agreement, which covers the terms and conditions.
By booking through websites such as Bookabach and Airbnb, holiday-makers agree to terms and conditions.
Tax is another issue and it's not straightforward. You can, for example, have up to four boarders or homestays at a time in your home before you have to pay tax in most circumstances.
But if you just let the room and don't offer other services such as meals, then you "are acting as a landlord", according to the Inland Revenue Department and must declare the income to the taxman. This will catch most Airbnb accommodation providers.
You need to declare income from flatmates and from short-term lets of houses, flats and baches. If you use the bach yourself, or it's your own home rented out for a period of time, you must declare the income. You may be subject to the IRD's "mixed use assets rules", which limit the expenses you can claim against rent.
Whatever you do, tell your insurance company in writing. The last thing you want is for the property to burn down or your contents to be stolen only to find out that you're not covered.
Terry Jordan, Insurance Council operations manager, says home owners must tell their insurance company if there is any "change of use", which includes using parts of the home as a business, renting rooms out or leaving the property unoccupied.
Also beware that you can't claim for theft by anyone who is legally on the property on most standard home or landlord insurance policies.
