Short-term rental accommodation

Hosted and non-hosted short term rental accommodation (STRA) is allowed without approval from Council.

There is no day-cap for hosted STRA. Non-hosted STRA is not allowed for more than 180 days in a 365-day period.

The following standards will need to be met:

• The dwelling has been lawfully constructed to be used for the purposes of residential accommodation.
• The type of residential accommodation that the dwelling is being used for is permitted either without or with consent on the land on which the dwelling is located
• The dwelling has been registered  on the STRA register
• The STRA Fire Safety Standard has been satisfied
• If the dwelling is part of a Strata Title Scheme, the by-laws permit the subject lot to be used for the purposes of STRA.

STRA is not permitted in:

• boarding houses
• seniors housing
• rural workers dwellings
• hostels
• group homes
• co-living housing
• refuge or crisis accommodation
• moveable dwellings: caravans, tents, glamping accommodation

Approved tourist and visitor accommodation operating under separate consent eg serviced apartments, bed and breakfasts, ecotourist facilities, hotels, motels, resorts, camping grounds or caravan parks are not required to register for STRA.

In the Byron Shire, STRA is not permitted where approval for a secondary dwellings was granted under State Environmental Planning Policy (Affordable Rental Housing) 2009.

More detail on the new planning framework can be found on the NSW Planning, Industry and Environment’s website.

If you received development consent for a secondary dwelling (granny flat) between April 2011 and November 2019 under State Environmental Planning Policy (Affordable Rental Housing) 2009, that consent was issued with certain conditions to ensure the dwelling provides a home for permanent residents.

The conditions prevent STRA in these dwellings and will continue to apply. Unauthorised use of the dwelling may lead to enforcement action.

Any dwelling used for STRA purposes is required to be registered on a new State Government-run register for STRA. Information such as compliance with fire safety standards and the number of days a property is used for STRA is captured and integrated with key STRA booking platforms (such as Stayz and AirBnB) and the NSW Planning Portal.

This register assists Councils with monitoring and compliance of registered STRA dwellings.

As part of the STRA reforms a mandatory Code of Conduct for the STRA industry came into force on 18 December 2020. It sets obligations, minimum standards of behaviour and requirements for all industry participants i.e.booking platforms, hosts, letting agents and guests..

For more information on this Code of Conduct, please visit the NSW Fair Trading website.

Some strata buildings have by-laws that prohibit STRA in a building where the dwelling is not your principal place of residence. This means that if you want to undertake non-hosted STRA in a strata building you must first check that there are no by-laws which prohibit STRA.

If your dwelling in a strata building is also your principal place of residence, then you can undertake STRA without reference to possible strata by-laws. However, as a host you must still comply with all requirements of the policy such as fire safety standard and registration on the STRA Register. 

You can read more about managing short-term rental by visiting the NSW Fair Trading website.