Short – Term Accommodation in Strata

Question:  The holiday season is here, and many owners will be offering their apartments as airbnb term rentals. What are rules and regulations governing short term rentals in strata schemes?

Please note that Owners Corporations can adopt by-laws that limit short-term rental accommodation in their strata scheme, by banning it in lots that are not the host’s principal place of residence.

However, if you reside in your strata lot as your principal place of residence, you will still be able to rent out your strata home or bedrooms while you live there, or while you are on holidays yourself.

Following extensive consultation with the community and holiday-letting industry, the Short-Term Rental Accommodation (STRA) framework has been finalised. The new regulatory framework seeks to ensure local communities continue to enjoy the economic benefits of STRA, while managing potential adverse impacts.

The STRA Code of Conduct was updated on 28 May 2021 to reflect that the planning instruments and STRA register would commence in November 2021. Obligations in the Code relating to the STRA register commenced on 1 November.

Some of these updates were to:

• provide that booking platforms are now only required to check that the premises is registered before advertising that premises, rather than both the premises and the host, and
• specify the information that booking platforms must provide to the Department of Planning, Industry and Environment.

NSW Fair Trading advises that the Code creates disciplinary actions that it can take, including listing non-compliant participants on an Exclusion Register.

The Code sets also out a process to be followed before a penalty is imposed.

Find out more about the new disciplinary actions at Short-term rental accommodation complaints.

Read more about the Exclusion Register and Fair Trading’s Short-term Rental Accommodation Statement of Regulatory Intent.

Please ensure you comply with your legal obligations if you propose to short-term let your apartment, and, if you have any further queries, please click on the following links or contact your strata manager:

• Code of Conduct for the Short-Term Rental Accommodation Industry
• public exclusion register
• subscriber portal

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