Owners Corporations Can Prohibit Short Term Letting

Buildings that are looking at options to better manage Short Term Letting would be pleased to hear of recent legislative changes commenced on the 10th April 2020.

Some part of the reforms have been put in hold due to the recent outbreak of Covid -19.

What does this mean?

It means that Owners Corporations that have by-laws prohibiting Short Term Letting are still enforceable, and that Owners Corporations that do not have Short Term Letting by-laws can pass a by-law prohibiting Short Term Letting.

This means, Owners Corporation can where required, take action through NCAT, for owners that breach a Short Term Letting by-law (if they have one), and seek for penalties to be applied for breach or continued breach.

Below is a summary of the legislative changes, which relate to amendments to the Fair Trading Act 1987 and Strata Schemes Management Act 2015:

• Under the Strata Schemes Management Act, a new section 137A has been created, providing the Owners Corporation limited power to make a By-Law restricting Short Term Letting/Accommodation arrangements

• The by-law is limited to prohibiting a lot owner from using a lot for the purposes of a short-term rental accommodation arrangement, as defined in the FTA, if the lot is not the lot owner’s principal place of residence

• Amendments to the Fair Trading Act 1987 (“FTA”), providing for making by regulation a mandatory code of conduct (“Code”) in relation to short term rental accommodation arrangements, being defined as “a commercial arrangement for giving a person the right to occupy residential premises for a period of not more than 3 months at any one time”. These commence on 10 April 2020, but do not have immediate impact, given that the regulation and Code are on hold

• An amendment to the Residential Tenancies Act, excluding Short Term Letting arrangements

• A new Fire Safety requirement/standard for Short Term Letting. This has been put on hold for the moment