Can I short-term rent in City of Melbourne?

Restricted

Short-term letting is legal across the City of Melbourne with no council-run STR registration scheme and no local night cap, a proposed $350/yr registration fee plus 180-day cap was voted on by councillors in August 2024 but paused later that year in favour of the state scheme. Every short stay (hosted or unhosted) is subject to Victoria's state-wide 7.5% Short Stay Levy (owner's principal place of residence exempt), and from 1 January 2025 owners corporations in Melbourne's many apartment buildings can vote by 75% special resolution to ban short-stay letting entirely, except in a host's own principal residence.

Last verified 2026-07-24 against official sources. Every fact below links to where it comes from.

The rules, fact by fact

Rule	What applies	Applies to	Since	Source
Registration	No City of Melbourne council STR registration scheme exists; state-level registration is with the State Revenue Office (SRO) for levy purposes, not a public STR register. Unlike NSW or WA, Victoria has no statewide public short-stay register and City of Melbourne has not implemented a local one. Instead, owners/tenants who accept short-stay bookings directly (without a booking platform) and all booking platforms operating in Victoria must register with the SRO for short-stay levy purposes, before the end of the first period in which they become liable for the levy. Platforms register once; they do not need to register each individual property. Owners who only accept bookings through a platform do not need to register themselves. Exceptions: Properties that are the occupant's principal place of residence, commercial residential premises (hotels/motels/hostels), student accommodation, rooming houses and retirement villages are excluded from levy registration.	Hosted & non-hosted	2025-01-01	State Gov
Night cap	No state-wide or City of Melbourne night cap on short stays applies, hosted or unhosted. City of Melbourne councillors voted in principle on 29 August 2024 for an annual $350 registration fee and a 180-day cap on short-stay letting, but the Future Melbourne Committee subsequently resolved not to progress a local short-stay law, deferring to the incoming state-wide Short Stay Levy. As of this record's date, no local night cap has been enacted and Victoria has no state-wide cap (unlike NSW's Greater Sydney 180-day cap or Byron's 60-day cap). The core 'no cap in force' fact is well supported by the absence of any cap provision on SRO/Consumer Affairs Vic pages; the specific paused-policy narrative could not be confirmed against the council's own page during this verification pass (it returned HTTP 403 to automated fetch, as it did for the original researcher) and rests on secondary-source corroboration only (Houst, The Urban Developer, CBD News, Strata Community Association Vic all independently report the same pause). ⚠ Our confidence in this fact is low. Confirm with the source before relying on it.	Hosted & non-hosted	n/a	Council
Planning approval	Short-term letting of an existing dwelling generally does not trigger a planning permit under the Melbourne Planning Scheme, but converting to a dedicated 'residential building'/'accommodation' use can. Victorian planning schemes (including Melbourne's, which uses the standard Victoria Planning Provisions) classify land use by definition, not by rental length. Under the VCAT 'red dot' precedent Armato v Hepburn Shire Council [2007] VCAT 603, a single dwelling let out short-term generally remains a 'dwelling' use, which does not require a planning permit; but where a property is run more like a serviced/commercial letting operation it can be reclassified as 'residential building' or 'accommodation', which does require a permit. No City of Melbourne-specific STR planning overlay exists. Exceptions: Small second dwellings and other purpose-built accommodation structures are assessed separately under building/planning rules for secondary dwellings. ⚠ Our confidence in this fact is low. Confirm with the source before relying on it.	Hosted & non-hosted	n/a	Regulator
Levies & taxes	Victoria's Short Stay Levy of 7.5% of the total booking amount applies to all qualifying short stays in the City of Melbourne, as everywhere else in the state. Under the Short Stay Levy Act 2024 (Vic), a flat 7.5% levy applies to any booking for a short stay in Victoria, calculated on the total booking fee (nightly rates, cleaning fees, GST and late checkout charges; excluding card/payment-processing surcharges and damage-related costs). Effective 1 January 2025, CONFIRMED directly against the SRO's own explainer page. Where a booking is made through a platform (Airbnb, Stayz etc.) the platform is liable and remits the levy; for direct bookings the owner or tenant is liable. Lodgement is quarterly if a provider's annual short-stay booking fees exceed $75,000, otherwise annually (by 30 January for the prior calendar year). Revenue funds Homes Victoria's social/affordable housing program, with 25% ring-fenced for regional Victoria. Exceptions: Principal place of residence stays, commercial residential premises (hotels/motels/hostels), premises that cannot be occupied separately from the main residence, student accommodation, rooming houses, retirement villages, and non-profit crisis accommodation are exempt.	Hosted & non-hosted	2025-01-01	State Gov
Strata / owners corporation	Owners corporations (highly relevant given Melbourne's apartment stock) can ban short-stay letting in their building by 75% special resolution, but not in a host's principal place of residence. The Short Stay Levy Act 2024 amended the Owners Corporations Act 2006 (Vic) so that, from 1 January 2025, an owners corporation may make a rule prohibiting lots from being used for short-stay accommodation. CONFIRMED directly against Consumer Affairs Victoria's own page: the rule requires a special resolution, 75% of lot owners' support, or 75% of votes cast by lot entitlement on a ballot/poll. Crucially, the ban cannot apply to a lot that is the owner's or occupier's principal place of residence, so an owner-occupier can still host short stays (e.g. spare rooms, or letting while away) in their own home. Given the density of owners-corporation-governed apartment buildings across the City of Melbourne (CBD, Southbank, Docklands), this is the most consequential lever for restricting STR locally. NOTE: the previous draft of this record also claimed a lower-threshold 'interim special resolution' pathway (50-75% support with under 25% opposition), this was NOT found on the cited Consumer Affairs Victoria page when re-checked directly and has been removed pending confirmation against the Owners Corporations Act itself. Exceptions: Rules cannot override a lot owner/occupier's use of their own principal place of residence for short stays. ⚠ Our confidence in this fact is medium. Confirm with the source before relying on it.	Hosted & non-hosted	2025-01-01	Regulator
Penalties	Failure to register for or pay the short stay levy attracts SRO penalty tax of up to 75% of the unpaid levy plus interest, under Victoria's general tax penalty regime. The State Revenue Office can investigate and assess unpaid short-stay levy amounts, applying penalty tax under the general penalty/interest regime the SRO applies to Victorian tax laws: 25% for failure to take reasonable care, 50% for reckless behaviour, up to 75% for intentional disregard of the law (each reducible with voluntary disclosure, or increasable if the taxpayer obstructs an investigation). Interest also accrues on unpaid amounts (currently 12.43% p.a.). This applies equally to bookings within the City of Melbourne as anywhere else in Victoria, there is no separate local infringement regime specific to STR in Melbourne. CORRECTED CITATION: the previously cited sro.vic.gov.au/short-stay-levy/faqs page does not actually contain penalty-rate information when checked directly; the 75% figure is confirmed instead on the SRO's general penalty tax and interest page, cited below. ⚠ Our confidence in this fact is medium. Confirm with the source before relying on it.	Hosted & non-hosted	2025-01-01	State Gov

Fees

Short Stay Levy: 7.5% of total booking amount (per short stay); PPR exempt source
City of Melbourne local STR registration fee: Proposed $350/year, voted on in principle 29 Aug 2024 but never implemented; policy paused (see review_notes on sourcing confidence) source

Penalties

Short Stay Levy non-compliance: Penalty tax of 25%-75% of the unpaid levy amount depending on culpability, plus interest (currently 12.43% p.a.) on the outstanding period source

What's changed in City of Melbourne

2025-01-01 Victoria's state-wide Short Stay Levy (7.5% of booking amount, PPR exempt) commenced under the Short Stay Levy Act 2024, applying uniformly across the City of Melbourne. source
2025-01-01 Owners Corporations Act 2006 amended (via the Short Stay Levy Act 2024) to let owners corporations ban short-stay letting by 75% special resolution, excluding a host's principal place of residence, highly relevant to Melbourne's apartment-heavy building stock. source
2024-08-29 City of Melbourne councillors voted in principle for a local STR registration fee ($350/yr) and a 180-day non-hosted cap; the proposal was subsequently paused by the Future Melbourne Committee pending the state levy and has not been revived as of this record (corroborated via secondary sources only, see review_notes). source

Host checklist for City of Melbourne

No City of Melbourne council STR registration scheme exists; state-level registration is with the State Revenue Office (SRO) for levy purposes, not a public STR register. official page
Short-term letting of an existing dwelling generally does not trigger a planning permit under the Melbourne Planning Scheme, but converting to a dedicated 'residential building'/'accommodation' use can. official page
Victoria's Short Stay Levy of 7.5% of the total booking amount applies to all qualifying short stays in the City of Melbourne, as everywhere else in the state. official page
Confirm anything marked below high confidence directly with your council.

Common questions

Do I need to register my short-term rental in City of Melbourne?

No City of Melbourne council STR registration scheme exists; state-level registration is with the State Revenue Office (SRO) for levy purposes, not a public STR register. Exceptions: Properties that are the occupant's principal place of residence, commercial residential premises (hotels/motels/hostels), student accommodation, rooming houses and retirement villages are excluded from levy registration.

Is there a levy or tax on short-stay bookings in City of Melbourne?

Victoria's Short Stay Levy of 7.5% of the total booking amount applies to all qualifying short stays in the City of Melbourne, as everywhere else in the state. Exceptions: Principal place of residence stays, commercial residential premises (hotels/motels/hostels), premises that cannot be occupied separately from the main residence, student accommodation, rooming houses, retirement villages, and non-profit crisis accommodation are exempt.

Can my strata or owners corporation stop me short-term renting in City of Melbourne?

Owners corporations (highly relevant given Melbourne's apartment stock) can ban short-stay letting in their building by 75% special resolution, but not in a host's principal place of residence. Exceptions: Rules cannot override a lot owner/occupier's use of their own principal place of residence for short stays.

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