This article discusses BUGTA BCCMA short-term letting, explaining why court decisions under BUGTA do not generally apply to schemes regulated by the BCCMA due to their separate legislative frameworks.
Question: Can recent decisions concerning short term letting specifically with a lot registered under BUGTA add any weight to properties registered under the BCCMA?
The case referred to in this article was an Appeal Decision (A Magistrate sitting as a Tribunal) delivered on 18 October 2019, his Honour noting “Short-term letting is by definition not residential. To be residential there must be a resident. That is someone who lives there on a permanent or long term basis.”
That decision was further appealed to the District Court, the decision dismissing the appeal, being handed down of 27 April 2020 – effectively permitting a by-law to ban short-term letting. Whilst the decisions mentioned above dealt specifically with a lot registered under BUGTA, do the judicial remarks below add any weight to the prospect of applying the principles to properties registered under the BCCMA?
Short-term use of a house by holiday makers or other persons seeking short-term accommodation is different from longer term residential use, even though it may be difficult to draw a clear dividing line. In its ordinary meaning, to use a building for a residential purpose does not include using it for the purpose of letting it out to others (and those others using it) for holidays or other temporary accommodation.
Answer: We are talking about quite separate pieces of legislation with quite distinct legislative provisions.
It’s important to clarify that decisions taken under BUGTA, including appeal decisions, apply only to those buildings to which BUGTA applies. Which is to say, the vast majority of buildings in Queensland are not affected by the decision you quote.
We are talking about quite separate pieces of legislation with quite distinct legislative provisions, including completely separate appeal processes, so the likelihood the BUGTA outcome might get applied in a BCCM context is next to none, in my view. Read this article for more detail: 99% (or more) of Queensland bodies corporate still cannot prohibit short term letting.
Your question is probably better put to government, to see if they would consider legislative change to respond to this specific outcome and have it apply to BCCM schemes.
This post appears in Strata News #448.
Chris Irons
Strata Solve
E: chris@stratasolve.com.au
P: 0419 805 898
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