Wellington Airbnb hosts are hitting out at the city council and claiming accommodation rate hikes are overkill. 

It's proposing applying commercial rates to short-term accommodation providers.

It could treble owners' costs - leaving many hosts fearing for their businesses.

Airbnb volunteer community leader Julie Wilson says her rates would rise from about $11,000 to about $40,000 and she'd have to stop.

"It's excessive - many of us rent occasionally, not as a full-time business, but they're going to be treating us the same as a hotel with hundreds of rooms." 

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