By Renee Wood
Yarra Ranges Council is advocating for short stay rental registry to allow Victorian local governments to have better monitoring over the businesses.
Cr Fiona McAllister spoke on the topic at the Tuesday 13 September council meeting and said many residents contact councillors upset about the wellbeing and lifestyle impacts they face from holiday homes.
“I’m not the only councillor around this table that gets phone calls on a regular basis from residents frustrated about amenity impact,” Cr McAllister said.
The Council will now put forward a request for the Municipal Association of Victoria (MAV) to advocate to the government to make changes to the act to establish a short stay accommodation or rental registry and further define a residential rental agreement to include short stay accommodation.
Currently under the Residential Tenancies Act many short stay accommodations are exempt from registration.
Cr McAllister said if there are issues with a holiday home property, often police are called in, whereas if there is a register it would allow council to assist.
“We’re making the suggestion that there is a change to the act that would require registration that would then allow us to, as we can with many other businesses, monitor impact, understand the extent of how many short stays are operating, better plan and better support our community.”
Councillors unanimously supported the motion to submit the request to MAV which will be discussed at the MAV State Council Meeting on 14 October 2022.
A staged 5-year framework for recovery from major disasters and an update to the Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements (DRFA) to allow for resilient drainage works were also part of the advocacy requests to MAV.
Belgrave South resident Adam Cornell has also been looking for regulation of short term holiday rentals in the Yarra Ranges, starting a petition earlier this year.
On the change.org petition, Mr Cornell writes as more properties go to short term rentals, many neighbouring houses are being disturbed.
“My proposal is not to stop these short term places from operating, but to come up with a way of regulating it through local council and state government,” he writes.
Short stay business Airbnb is also in support of registration components.
Susan Wheeldon, Airbnb country manager for Australia and New Zealand said they welcome state wide rules.
“Neither Airbnb nor our Host community is opposed to short-term rentals being regulated, and we support the statewide frameworks in NSW and Tasmania, including their respective registration components,” Ms Wheeldon said.
“The regulatory framework in New South Wales provides the State Government with a very clear understanding of the number of short term rental accommodation properties across the state, where they are located, and how frequently they are used throughout the year.
“Rather than a patchwork of differing rules from council to council, we welcome statewide rules that are fair, sensible and strike a balance so that everyone can enjoy the benefits of tourism, and are sympathetic to the changing ways people are living and working given the rise of flexible and hybrid work arrangements.”
Ms Wheeldon said Airbnb is focused on growing tourism allowing for travel to be more accessible and affordable, while boosting tourism dollars for local businesses.
“Short-term rentals also provide a way for everyday people to stay afloat and combat rising costs of living and growing mortgage repayments. It’s no surprise that we’re seeing people increasingly rely on hosting to make ends meet in the face of the current economic climate,” she said.
