Question: Will bans on short-stay accommodation be addressed in the upcoming strata legislation changes? Will enforcement of short-term letting be easier?
Answer: Short-stay bans themselves aren’t changing, but enforcement may become easier if nonmonetary VCAT action can be authorised by ordinary resolution instead of a higher threshold.
No, bans on short stay are still not going to really change, but it’s the enforcement that’s going to change. If section 18 now allows nonmonetary actions to be commenced by an ordinary resolution. What that means is the committee can enforce short-stay breaches, or short-stay rules themselves in VCAT directly, and possibly deter them that way. There’s already a section in the Act that lets you do a bit of a three-strikes-you’re-banned situation. That’s section 169D. It’s a prohibition order. If you get three breach notices, you can go to VCAT and ask them to ban that lot from short-stay use. No one’s done that yet, because it needs 75%. But if you can now get that as an ordinary resolution, that pathway might be more accessible.
This post appears in the September 2026 edition of The VIC Strata Magazine.
Fabienne Loncar Chambers Russell Lawyers E: floncar@chambersrussell.com.au P: 03 8639 9804