New rules for home sharing in strata to commence in NSW
In August 2018, the NSW Government passed the Fair Trading Amendment (Short-term Rental Accommodation) Act 2018 as part of a reform package to short-term rental accommodation rules. The reforms seek to strike the balance between protecting the choice to share your home responsibly whilst also ensuring community amenity is protected. You can read more about these changes here.
The NSW Government will be implementing its reform package in stages.
The first stage affects hosts in strata communities and will come into effect from 10th April 2020. This will mean that a strata scheme:
- Cannot prohibit a person from renting their home when the dwelling is a primary place of residence – this includes both hosted and un-hosted accommodation.*
- Can prohibit short-term rental accommodation for people renting a non-primary place of residence – by adopting a by-law by special resolution via a minimum 75 percent vote.
More information about these rules for short-term rental accommodation in strata are available from the NSW Government’s website.
Hosts can also learn more about how by-laws are passed from the NSW Fair Trading website.
Given the challenges facing strata communities continuing to hold meetings in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, NSW Fair Trading has released guidance for strata communities and what measures can be undertaken to preserve public health, including options to avoid in-person meetings during this time.
Please note, according to NSW Fair Trading, “if an owners corporation has not previously passed a resolution to accept voting by means other than in person, they only have the option of an in-person meeting.”
Airbnb will continue work with the NSW Government on the outstanding pieces of the overall reform package to support common sense rules that deliver the best possible outcomes for hosts and the broader community.
* The NSW Government has announced it will introduce planning rules which create hosting thresholds for un-hosted accommodation of 180 nights per year in Greater Sydney and between 180 to 365 nights per year in local government areas outside Greater Sydney. Once those planning rules take effect, un-hosted accommodation – whether that’s a primary or non-primary place of residence – will be subject to those thresholds.