Short-term Rental Accommodation Register

The STRA planning policy framework comprises new standard provisions and introduces:

• a definition for STRA, hosted STRA and non-hosted STRA;
• an exempt development pathway for:
• • hosted STRA in a dwelling, 365 days per year;
  • non-hosted STRA in a dwelling, 180 days per year in a dwelling located within Clarence Valley Council LGA. To ensure clarity of such dwelling locations, maps for these locations are available on the Planning Portal; and
• an exemption of bookings of 21 consecutive days or more from day limits for non-hosted STRA.

The STRA policy is supported by:

• amendments to the EP&A Regulation to introduce minimum fire safety standards for dwellings used for STRA and associated penalty notice offences for non-compliance; and
• the implementation of a new Government-run STRA register that will ensure compliance with the STRA fire safety standards, as well as tracking day limits of each STRA dwelling and provide details to assist local councils with monitoring STRA in their local government areas (LGA).

• hosted short-term rental accommodation means short-term rental accommodation provided where the host resides on the premises during the provision of the accommodation.
  (Note: ‘Hosted’ means the owner needs to be living on the property but not necessarily in the home being rented, for example homeowners who live on a property with a granny flat are able to rent out the granny flat 365 days of the year.)
  
  
• non-hosted short-term rental accommodation means short-term rental accommodation provided where the host does not reside on the premises during the provision of the accommodation.

All lawfully constructed dwellings that are permitted to be used as residential accommodation in all land-use zones can be used for short-term rental. Typical residential accommodation dwelling types include:

• a dwelling house (free-standing house), an attached dwelling, or a semi-detached dwelling
• a dual occupancy
• multi-dwelling housing
• a residential flat (such as a unit in a block of flats)
• a secondary dwelling (such as a granny flat)
• housing above shops.

What kinds of dwellings are not permitted?

The following dwellings are not considered short-term rental accommodation under the STRA rules:

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

More information about the rules for STRA is available on the Planning Portal.

Dwellings proposed to be used for STRA are required to comply with the STRA fire safety standards.

The fire safety standards are enacted by the EP&A Regulation which:

• introduce minimum fire safety standards for STRA dwellings and associated penalty notice offences for non-compliance;
• require all STRA dwellings to comply with the relevant fire safety standards, including the requirement for all STRA dwellings to an evacuation plan and interconnected smoke alarms; and
• require all STRA dwellings to be registered on the Government-run STRA register to confirm compliance with the new fire safety standards.

A factsheet on fire safety standards is available on the Planning Portal.

The mandatory Code of Conduct for the Short-term Rental Accommodation Industry (Code) is administered by the Commissioner for Fair Trading in the NSW Department of Customer Service.

The Code sets out the legal responsibilities and creates new minimum standards of behaviour and requirements for all industry participants, including:

• Booking platforms
• Hosts
• Guests
• Letting agents and facilitators.

For information about the this code, visit the NSW Fair Trading website.