Understanding Melbourne’s Short-Term Rental Regulations

Melbourne is a frequently visited travel destination with an active vacation rental industry, making it a great location for property owners to offer their homes for short-term rental. This article looks at the regulations surrounding short stays rentals in Melbourne, Australia, and how hosts using platforms like Airbnb or Booking.com can be sure to avoid fines and punishments.

Summary of Melbourne’s Short-Term Rental Regulations

Short-term rentals are permitted in Melbourne, provided that the operator has the right to lease the space. This means that any accommodation listed on Airbnb, Booking.com, VRBO, or any other short rental platform must not breach any lease or rental agreements. Stratas and owners corporations are not permitted to create rules or impose bans on short-term rentals, and can only enforce the punishments set forth by the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal.

Zoning Requirements for Short Stays in Melbourne

Short-term rentals and short stays are considered as accommodation and residential buildings by the Victoria Planning Provisions, meaning that a planning permit is not required to operate a short-term rental. According to the City of Melbourne and Consumer Affairs Victoria, there are no current zoning restrictions for short-term rentals or short stays in Melbourne.

Host and Guest Punishments for Vacation Rentals in Melbourne

While the city of Melbourne doesn’t impose any night limits or other restrictions on short-term rentals, hosts and guests are still required to be responsible when it comes to property damage, health or security hazards, and unreasonable noise. In February of 2019, changes were made to the Owners Corporations Act 2006 indicating that apartment owners operating short-term rentals must ensure guests are not disrupting other apartment owners or common areas, with a set of fines for both hosts and guests if these rules are broken.

These laws are not applicable to free-standing houses or other homes that are not part of an owners corporation. This being said, hosts and guests should still respect surrounding neighbours even if these laws do not apply to them.

Hosting Short-Term Rentals Responsibly in Melbourne

Neighbouring apartment owners can complain about short-term rental guests in other apartments who are:

• Making excessive amounts of noise.
• Interfering with owners or guests of other apartments.
• Creating health and safety hazards in common areas.
• Preventing access to common areas.
• Damaging any part of the apartment complex.

Any complaints should be submitted in writing to the presiding owners corporation, which will then agree on if action should be taken and the severity of the repercussions. Owners corporations can choose to involve the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) if the offender is not compliant or has an appeal.

Hosts can be forced to pay their neighbours or their owners corporation up to $2,000 Australian Dollars in compensation depending on the severity of the infraction. Guests are also potentially subject to fines of up to $1,100 Australian dollars for causing any of the infractions listed above. Along with the monetary fines, hosts can be banned from short-term renting their property if they are hit with three or more infractions within a two year period.

We cannot guarantee the accuracy of the regulations discussed in this article. Regulations can change, and we advise you to research the current regulations for your location. While we do our best to keep the information updated, if you find an error, omission, or something that needs an update, please let us know.

About Keycafe

Keycafe is a technology company modernizing business key management with a cloud-connected SmartBox and accompanying key management software.

In addition to a global Public Network of over 1000 locations for Airbnb users, Keycafe’s Enterprise Solution enables businesses in any industry to manage key access for staff and customers.