Legislation proposed before the Queenland Parliament today authorises councils to ban residential properties from offering short-term rentals.
The move is aimed at reducing disturbance caused by travellers and vacationers renting ‘party houses’ living in Australia’s party central.
Under the new laws, residential property owners would need to lodge a development application with their council and seek approvals to qualify as short-term accommodation operators.
Councils will also be able to set ‘restriction areas’ with total bans on short-term rentals at residential property.
“These amendments will be a win for local residents who through no fault of their own have suffered at the hands of party house operators who deliberately and knowingly flouted the rules,” said Mermaid Beach MP Ray Stevens.
However, the outlook is less positive for short-term accommodation operators and rental companies like Airbnb.
An Airbnb spokesperson told news.com.au: “We believe that councils should address disturbance issues through noise ordinances, instead of outright bans on short-term rentals that will affect both party houses and responsible hosts and guests.”
Short-term accommodation operators would also be hit with new council fees. Gold Coast councillor Greg Betts told ABC that operators could be dishing out ‘a couple of thousand at least’ on their development applications.
If the laws are passed in parliament, the Queensland government aims to implement them by the end of the year.
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