Can I short-term rent in Noosa Shire Council?

Under Council's Short Stay Letting and Home Hosted Accommodation Local Law (adopted 21 October 2021, commenced 1 February 2022), owners must obtain approval before operating either 'short stay letting' (whole premises let to guests, less than 3 consecutive months, other than the owner) or 'home hosted accommodation' (a room let while the host resides on site). Applications require a site plan, floor plan, building/pool/electrical safety certification and confirmation of a compliant contact person. Approval must be renewed every year while the use continues.

Exceptions: Exempt: designated visitor-accommodation sites, the Hastings Street Mixed Use precinct, and traditional hotels/motels not operated for short-stay commercial gain.

Under Noosa Plan 2020, occasional short-term letting of an applicant's principal place of residence (only one self-contained dwelling let at a time; secondary dwellings excluded) is accepted development where guests are hosted on no more than 4 occasions and the total nights let do not exceed 60 per calendar year. This concession is about the planning/land-use trigger only, the property still needs the cheaper 'principal residence' tier of Local Law approval (short stay letting or home hosted) and annual renewal. Letting beyond 4 occasions/60 nights, or of a non-principal-residence dwelling, loses this concession and is assessed against the zone rules (see planning_approval rule).

Exceptions: Home hosted accommodation (host present) always requires Local Law approval regardless of nights/occasions, the 4/60 concession only removes the town-planning trigger, not the Local Law approval requirement.

Under Amendment No. 2 to Noosa Plan 2020, ongoing/frequent short-term accommodation beyond the 4-occasions/60-nights principal-residence threshold is classed as inconsistent with the Low, Medium and High Density Residential zones and the Rural Residential and Rural zones (triggering impact assessment, i.e. development approval is required and third parties can make submissions/appeal), because these zones are intended to prioritise permanent residential living. In the Tourist Accommodation zone, by contrast, frequent whole-dwelling letting is a consistent use requiring only code assessment. The guide states explicitly: 'The provisions of Amendment No. 2 to Noosa Plan 2020 are not retrospective and lawful approvals for short-term accommodation prior to this amendment continue.'

Exceptions: Tourist Accommodation zone (code assessable, not impact assessable); one specific address (48 Noosa Drive, Noosa Heads) is separately identified as a consistent, impact-assessable use in the High Density Residential zone; properties within the Hastings Street Mixed Use precinct or other designated visitor-accommodation sites are separately exempt from the Local Law approval regime.

Home hosted accommodation means letting a habitable room where 'the person in charge of the premises resides at the premises whilst the occupant uses the premises' for stays under 3 consecutive months. Short stay letting means letting the whole premises to someone other than the owner, also under 3 consecutive months, and expressly excludes home hosted accommodation, hotels, motels, backpackers and shared-facility accommodation. Each has its own application/renewal fee schedule.

As a condition of Local Law approval, operators must maintain broadform public liability insurance with minimum cover of $10,000,000 at all times ('Broadform public liability insurance is held at all times which provides indemnity in an amount not less than $10,000,000'), alongside conditions on parking, prohibition of camping/caravans as guest accommodation, waste management and protection of residential amenity for neighbours.

Where a substantiated complaint shows a breach of approval conditions, Council may issue a compliance notice under Administration Local Law No. 1 s.26 specifying the contravention and a remedy timeframe; failing to comply with the notice carries a maximum penalty of 5 penalty units. Under s.17, Council can propose to amend, suspend or cancel the approval via a show-cause notice, giving the holder 21 days to respond. Under s.19, Council can immediately suspend an approval where there is an urgent and serious threat to public safety, or to the environment or neighbouring property.

Every approval requires an identified contact person available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, who resides or has a place of business within 20km of the premises and must respond to each complaint within 30 minutes of receiving it. Complaints go to Council's dedicated short-stay hotline (07) 5329 6466, displayed on the mandatory approval notice at the property. The contact person/approval holder must keep a guest register (occasion, duration, guest numbers) and a written complaints register (details, date, time, resolution) for at least 2 years and produce them to Council within 5 business days on request.