Question: An apartment in our building appears to be operating as short-term rental accommodation without the owner notifying anyone. How can we identify which unit is being advertised?
An apartment in our building appears to be providing short-term rental accommodation (STRA). Our strata manager has not been notified of any apartment providing that service. We have located a registration that appears to match our building, but we cannot be certain which apartment it corresponds to.
We contacted Planning NSW with the STRA registration to request identification of the apartment, but they will not release any information and directed us to our local council. The council said that if we suspected non-compliance by the premises, we should advise them. The problem is that we cannot identify the premises.
While we have a by-law prohibiting Airbnb-type rentals, it is unenforceable if we can’t identify the apartment. The code of conduct that applies as part of registration requires that the strata manager and immediate neighbours be notified of the short-term rental. Who should we contact to identify the specific unit?
Answer: Start with the strata roll and the listing itself, but consider whether enforcement is worth pursuing if no issues have occurred.
There are a few elements to this situation, and not all are encoded in strata legislation and/or planning laws.
However, it is important to cover off how the strata legislation relates to short-term rental accommodation. The relevant section of the Strata Schemes Management Act 2015 (NSW) is section 137A, and this states that a by-law in relation to short-term rental accommodation does not apply “if the lot is […] the principal place of residence of the person who, pursuant to the arrangement, is giving another person the right to occupy the lot.”
I don’t know the specific terms of the by-law in place, but if the host can prove that the lot in question is their principal place of residence, I doubt much can be done to prevent the lot being used for short-term rental accommodation.
As far as identifying the lot, you’ll need to use other sources of information. For example:
- Most short-term rental accommodation sites mention the owner’s first name. Does this match one or more lot owners on the strata roll?
- Do photos in the listing indicate the lot’s outlook, or which level the unit is on?
- Scour the listing/s for any potentially identifying information you can determine, including in the description.
- You may be able to narrow the potential set of lots the listing relates to.
However, the other question is whether any disturbance or other issues is being caused by the listing itself.
While I understand the desire to enforce the by-law in place, have there been any issues to date?
If not, is it worth your and/or the committee’s and/or the strata manager’s time and effort to police the by-law?
You may wish to still do the “detective work” to try to identify the lot, but often, it’s only after issues occur that you can get traction to take action on such a situation.
This post appears in Strata News #801.
Sean McNamara Select Strata Reports E: sean@selectstratareports.au P: 0414 920 726
