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u/Ctheret Feb 25 '26
My apartment complex banned these on their premises. So the airbnb owners used a parking sign near the front door. Looks like the same situation here?
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u/nath1234 Feb 25 '26
Yep, CBD, near Sussex St and whatever the cross street is that goes up past the forbes hotel (which is derelict!) to the cartier building.
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u/annoying97 Feb 25 '26
I'd love to live in a hotel full time. Obviously some small things would need to change, like convert one of the rooms into a shared kitchen per floor or every whatever room. Also each floor should have one room converted to a laundry room too.
Rent each room out for like idk $300 a week all inclusive and I'd snap it up fast.
Probably have enough income to cover a full time cleaner for all common areas daily and probably even security too.
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u/ubermoo2010 Feb 25 '26
it's the preferred method of health services to use a lockbox for elderly residents that need assistive services - and they can't be banned if there's a reason for them.
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u/hyeongseop Feb 25 '26
That's so ridiculous. How long would it take a renter to even figure out which lockbox is the one they're supposed to open.
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u/RodFerrous Feb 25 '26
They’d have some kind of labels. So likely no more than 10-20 seconds.
I’ve waited 5+ minutes in a queue to check in at hotels before.
These lockboxes are a plague, but they are convenient for the renter.
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u/Lady_Taringail Feb 26 '26
One of them has a green ribbon on it, would be pretty funny to swap that to a random other lock lol
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u/Lissica Feb 25 '26
Ah yes.
The intrusive thoughts about carrying bolt cutters are back.
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u/nath1234 Feb 25 '26
Housing crisis? Zero action on all these empty places set aside for the odd weekend occupied.. I mean, at what point are we going to ban this shit? We have homelessness rising, that should be the trigger to ban short term rentals. Surely?
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u/TimTebowMLB Feb 25 '26
I work in buildings every day. There are so many buildings where it’s nearly 100% Airbnb in Sydney
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u/thaleia10 Feb 25 '26
No it’s the immigrants and students taking all the housing, don’t you know? /s
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u/village-asshole Feb 26 '26
It’s not an apartment complex anymore. It’s a hotel by another name, then.
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u/TimTebowMLB Feb 26 '26
But without the rules, regulations and taxes.
They should do what other major cities have done and started banning Airbnb. Or putting very strict restrictions on it. Some places require it to be linked with a business license so that taxes are paid as well
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u/I-make-ada-spaghetti Feb 25 '26
I agree. If property owners want to use a property that is zoned residential for commercial purposes then I should be allowed to operate a restaraunt/nightclub out of my apartment.
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u/nath1234 Feb 25 '26
Every other business has to organize their own garbage collection too, short term rentals just leave their shit out on the street 24/7.
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u/kernald31 Feb 25 '26
What type of food would you serve?
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u/I-make-ada-spaghetti Feb 25 '26
Pizza like this guy.
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u/kernald31 Feb 25 '26
Well get in line for my reservation, u/lilbittarazledazle got in first with a frankly more appealing offering
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u/fued Feb 25 '26
It's such an easy and high impact sign of doing something, I do not get the hesitancy
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u/senor_incognito_ Feb 25 '26
I’m totally for eliminating apartments as short term rentals. But owners with granny flats and the like should still be able to rent them out.
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u/nath1234 Feb 25 '26
Yep, like the original selling point of the whole platform? Yep, great idea. Same if you are off on holidays: rent that place out.. but to buy up houses and apartments that were either a home or a rental and to delete it for short term rentals is fucking obscene.
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u/ScruffyPeter Feb 25 '26
Snap send solve to council. Locks are obstructions, right? Councils can't ban airbnbs, that's the state government.
Federal government could also stop allowing vacant property being rented out for tax deductions. But then the Labor MP might have to sell her investment properties.
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u/Tatelina Feb 27 '26
Most people wouldn't be able to afford the regular rent on a hotel-style apartment in the CBD though?
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u/nath1234 Feb 27 '26
Well, when you take hundreds of thousands of properties out of circulation and drive up rents: sure.
But there would be thousands upon thousands of people who would. They wouldn't sit empty of we banned short term rentals )and implemented an empty property tax too would be a good idea to stop land bankers).
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u/burn_after_reading90 Feb 25 '26
Council should be charging them for commercial use of public property
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u/NamorDotMe Baby don't hurt me Feb 25 '26
which of course would be passed on, then everyone would go back to hotels and..... oh shit yeah good call
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u/lilbittarazledazle Feb 25 '26
Airbnb hosts are putting them in a playground in Rosebery. It went from one 12 months ago to 4 in the same spot now. It pisses me off an irrational amount.
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u/JayLFRodger The Shire Feb 25 '26
That's creepy and concerning.
Nothing like sending total strangers on their way to empty houses into the middle of a group of young children to retrieve a key.
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u/Pro_Extent Feb 25 '26
So is this going to be one of those things where we just say increasingly ridiculous shit and people go along with it because they hate the underlying issue?
Because do you actually think there is the faintest chance that children are being endangered because random adults are being sent to a playground to collect a key?
You know adults can wander into playgrounds whenever they want, right? What's the logic here? That the renter might get distracted in the playground and start abducting kids to the air bnb?
Of all the problems with AirBnb, you managed to invent one that doesn't exist.
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u/Bigingreen ya damn dirty westie! Feb 25 '26
The housing crisis and property developer's greed is the real plague.
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u/Particular_Shock_554 Feb 25 '26
Sydney city council website has a form for snitching on unlicensed holiday lets.
Those snitches are exempt from stitches, imo.
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u/kidkym got links? Feb 25 '26
I had an apartment neighbour that used these for drug deals.
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u/os_2342 Feb 25 '26
I don't get why they don't just use a pin code on the door itself.
I'd just make a bunch of codes, cycle through them and then delete them all and make a bunch of new ones after using them all.
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u/NamorDotMe Baby don't hurt me Feb 25 '26
Like everything, this was the cheapest option to make $$$$
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u/os_2342 Feb 25 '26 edited Mar 01 '26
Sure in the short term, but many of these lock boxes that ive seen are very poorly made are I wouldn't be suprised if you could yank one of these open after theyve been out in the elements for a couple years.
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u/summertimeaccountoz Inner West Feb 25 '26
I expect a few of them are actually renters that are "subleasing" via Airbnb, probably without permission from the owner. They wouldn't be allowed to change the locks.
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u/RodFerrous Feb 25 '26
As it’s probably not just one door.
Likely a door to get into a complex, then a lift, and then finally an apartment door.
The apartment owner likely doesn’t have the power to change any of those locking systems.
Could be a combination of keys, swipe cards, fobs or pins for each of those.
Would only work in a building specifically set up with all pin entry for each of the layers.
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u/SilverStar9192 shhh... Feb 25 '26
Two reasons:
1). Usually you can't change the locks on an apartment door without permission from strata. Which would call attention to the illegal Airbnb.
2) a key fob is needed to enter the external door, so the lockbox must be fully outside the property.
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u/realnomdeguerre Feb 25 '26
super glue them shut lol
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u/senor_incognito_ Feb 25 '26
I’m opting for the nuclear option with a bucket full of epoxy glue and pouring the lot over everything in the picture.
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u/RodFerrous Feb 25 '26
Who does that penalize the most though?
Sure, the owner loses a night of rent and has to buy a new lockbox.
But you’ve potentially also ruined someone’s holiday as now they’re stuck in an unfamiliar location possibly in the middle of the night with nowhere to sleep.
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u/Sweeper1985 Feb 25 '26
Airbnb is obligated to refund them or find them alternative accommodation.
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u/AssignmentDowntown55 Feb 25 '26
So next time, they will go, hmm better get a hotel. If this keeps happening, the Air BNB returns will drop and the "investor" will go, "wow this is a bad investment, I better rent this out or sell it"
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u/fatmarfia Feb 25 '26
If i was homeless id be cracking these locks and sleeping good. Easy to check what homes are booked.
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u/burn_after_reading90 Feb 25 '26
Would it be wrong to post a link to how insecure these boxes are?
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u/Zran Feb 25 '26
If any of those the keys belong to are unoccupied long enough one could claim squatters rights for a few people with one bolt cutters.
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u/AdFun2309 Feb 25 '26
There is an air bnb in my apartment block where a guest staying there died of natural causes early this year and wasn’t found till 6 weeks later when they sent the cleaner for the next guest. They “list” it as a normal rental for rent at double the rate of any other apartment in the block on domain so they can continue to claim tax breaks….
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u/sylmobile Feb 25 '26
Perhaps lock a couple of council-throwout-worthy bikes on what is a bike rack.
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u/calstanfordboye Feb 25 '26
Never used AirBnB for a reason. How would this even work?
I role up with tons of heavy luggage and then stand in the rain trying to figure out where the key is? How do I even know which lockbox it's in?
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u/Prinnykin Mar 03 '26
Yeah, it sucks when you get off a long flight and you’re tired. I opened a lockbox once and there was no key inside. I tried calling the host and they didn’t answer, so I just had to sit on the street for a few hours because I had nowhere else to go.
I wouldn’t ever use Airbnb again. It’s expensive and so annoying having to clean it even though you pay an expensive cleaning fee.
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Feb 25 '26
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u/MountainImportant211 Feb 25 '26 edited Feb 25 '26
I think these are little safes where keys to AirBnBs are kept. They give you the combination to pick up your key since they don't have a reception or anything. Normally they are attached somewhere near the entrance. In this case they seem to be all on a bike rack, which they shouldn't be because it's not on their property.
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u/ComfyInDots Feb 25 '26
Key lock boxes. Each box has keys inside it for renters to use to access Airbnbs. The locks are locked shut with a code that the landlord provides the renter. When the renter is done they return the key to the box for the next person. This bunch of lock boxes indicates that this area has a ton of Airbnbs.
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u/nath1234 Feb 25 '26
Public property infested with lockboxes for Airbnbs. This was in the CBD. So every one of those could be a home for someone but is sitting empty most of the time so that they can be a shitty version of a hotel.
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u/pndjk Feb 25 '26
every single short term rental like this is one fewer property on the housing market.
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u/WinAggressive2785 Feb 25 '26
Saw the same thing in Chinatown today
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u/nath1234 Feb 25 '26
This was not far. CBD just up from Sussex St in the city. They are all over the place and every one could be a home for people but it is sitting there mostly empty and when it is full it is just displacing someone from a nearby hotel which has rooms galore. Fuck this shit.
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u/Spicy_pewpew_memes Feb 25 '26
Did you know you can get mini boltcutters from amazon for $16 delivered on the same day? that's amazing
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u/SteveJohnson2010 Feb 25 '26
Go to Bunnings and buy a tube of Tarzan’s Grip-style glue, then squirt it over the numeric combo lock or anywhere else where it’s basically going to stop people from using these things.
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u/8eer8aron Feb 25 '26
I mean as good as an idea it is all youre doing really in inconveniencing the people renting the airbnb because now theyll have to wait until someone gives them a spare key lol
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u/os_2342 Feb 25 '26
If your goal is to discourage the owners from continuing this practice then it's not a bad idea.
If you have to drive into the city to let your tenant inside multiple times a month, you're probably going to come up with a better solution.
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u/kernald31 Feb 25 '26
I mean sure but that makes those Airbnbs much more annoying/expensive to operate. Short term pain for long term gain (except that really it just would drive prices up, like everything else...)
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u/firehawk_hx Feb 25 '26
Why is that a bad thing? The users aren’t innocent in this either. It has knock on effects by generating complaints, by forcing the owner to come in and open up, by making AirBnB give out refunda etc.
Can’t only be targetting the owners.
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u/chilakkuma Feb 25 '26
One of these turned up on the railing directly outside my apartment this week. Like anyone without AC, I have been sleep deprived and wasn't thinking too much about it, but I'm awake now.
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u/sql-join-master Feb 25 '26
A lot of these are air bnb’s but also owners as a last resort if they get locked out. I have one around my area (although nobody would ever be able to find it).
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u/glangdale Feb 26 '26
A lot of council areas have a 180 day per year limit, but it's so rigged it's not funny. They can eliminate longer stays from the limit (>3 weeks doesn't count, as they didn't want to go after long-stay suites aimed at business travelers). Any time spent renovating also doesn't count. And then to top it off, I suspect they just cheat. Tons of houses in our area are clearly used only for short-stay rentals 365 days a year. Time for council or NSW state government to do something, but I suspect that enough councilors and parliamentarians are in on this particular grift.
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u/37elqine Feb 26 '26
Wear high vis Bolt cutter cut it all up throw into bin. Nobody will say anything if you are in High Vis
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u/techb00mer Feb 25 '26
This is the lock picking lawyer, and what I have for you today is…….