australian law

[James73]

Has anyone had any experience with local council stateing that the use of the proeprty for Airbnb is not a permitted use?

City of Nedlands ,Perth, Western Australia is stating that i am operating short term accomocation which is not permitted and requested i stop or face legal action.

Anyone experienced anything similar??

Thanks

[Lyn8]

James,
That is awful. I have heard about that in the news. I think you should fight the council on it. They would be ultra conservative - stuck in the past and wearing blinkers. I am in City of Canning and applying now. I have actually been doing it since Nov. have been well booked. All my guests have been lovely. I have bookings solid through to Feb 17 so will be devastated if they say no, and will certainly be on the offensive. Can you stir up about their decision. Get your side of the story in the news?

[Keat0]

Hi Lyn

My name is Keat and I am facing similar issue with City of Canning. I wonder if you can assist to advise me whether you managed to get an approval from them? I see your forum is in 06-09-2016, so policy may have then changed. I am checking out the Town Planning Scheme 40 and our property is in Centre zone. I am going to apply from Dwellings to Holiday Accommodtion not sure if that is correct but will ask City of Canning.

I would glad if you can share your experience and advise me on how to obtain the right approval.

Thank you kindly.

Best regards

Keat

[Christine1]

@James73, Have you read through the council documents which cover zonings and permitted uses for your property/location? There are different ways to operate depending on the zoning which applies to your exact street address location. So your first step would be to confirm your understanding of this information.  Read through the online documents to understand your position. Then consider the style of sharing that would be considered permissable at your address.

Be certain about your zoning before escalating conflict. There may be slight changes you can make which bring you back into a compliant mode of operation. 

Have you received formal notification? or a letter asking you to allow an inspector? or any addressed correspondence from council on this matter?

I hope this is helpful to you.

[Keat0]

Hi Christine

Reading your reply to James it seem to me that you are conversant with Council policy.

I wonder if you can assist me in getting compliant approval to carry on short term accommodation with Airbnb.

I have been operating my investment apartment for just over a year but recently City of Canning issued a letter to all owners in the building to cease short term accommodation with the fine of $200,000 and $25k daily if we continue. Our building is zoned Centre-Dwellings & Office. According to Town Planning Scheme 40 we can apply for Holiday Accommodation by submitting Council Development Approval form for consideration. Do you know any host that had successfully obtained approval from their Council to continue short term accommodation or the correct approach to do so?

I am researching and preparing my case before submitting the Development Approval and also meet up with City of Canning Compliance Officer. As there are also a few owners in our building doing Airbnb as well they would also like to know how to get approval. Any info or advice from you relating to this matter would be greatly appreciated. Otherwise we will have to shutdown and switch to long term stay tenancy which is not attractive return. This will also be a win for the Australia Hotel Association in shutting us down. Look forward to your reply and help. Thank you kindly.

[Gerry-And-Rashid0]

I can't really add any value other than your reply to them should also include a request of copies of all relevant legislations that show AirBnB short term rentals is illegal.

At least then you know what they are basing their claim on.

[Christine1]

@Gerry-And-Rashid0, @James73, Yes guys you are correct there. Basically there are 2 angles to check into; one is what are the regulations that you need to comply with and what are the regulations/laws/by-laws that someone is claiming you are breaching or non-compliant with. Don't accept a generic cover-all such as "you are breaking the law" or "in breach/you can't do that."

As Gerry and Rashid are saying; ask the person or corporate rep' for  documentation to demonstrate their claim.

In the meantime proceed with caution, keeping an eye on existing regulations which you can access. Most councils have these doc on their websites and they are very long, but down load a copy save it to your files and get reading.

Once your bookings are confirmed, keep a copy of your contact information. If it's not a commercial transaction, you can still honour the reservation if you need to take action to avoid prosection, and do what you feel is needed to maintain the commitment you mmade to the people who put their trust in you. You will no doubt make very good friends out of the situation. You cannot be prosecuted for letting friends visit.

By the Way, this is not legal advice on my part, you would need to exercise your own judgement and discretion.

Good luck, keep us posted.

Christine.

[Carol43]

We are in the Margaret River region and have recntly been contacted by our shire to request we apply for buiness permit or face $200k for operating an illegal buiness.  We dont want to apply as the minute you are approved your rates  land/water and services are charged at comemrcial rates - and we would have to pay captial gains on the area of our home that is used for bnb- if a "business "-  it wouldnt be sustanable - we dont operate in a big way - about a 20% occupancy - and  charge under commercial rates and dont want to work any more days - this is a hobby for us- pocket money, a great way to meet interesting people.   I should mention - we rent out rooms in our family home, not whole house and declare income on tax -  which is not enough to pay tax on. Anyone else have any experience with this - have you registered  as a business- what were the costs like? Our shire couldnt even give us an estimate of new charges we would face. Very hostile. Local buisnesses have been complaining on social media about airbnb in region ( there are hundreds)