Hosted or non-hosted: the single distinction that decides almost everything

What the two words actually mean

Hosted, broadly, means the host or a permanent occupant is present at the premises during the stay. Guests have a room or part of the dwelling, not exclusive use of it. Non-hosted, or un-hosted, means guests have the whole property to themselves.

The test is presence, not ownership and not intention. Letting your own home while you are away on holiday is a non-hosted stay in most frameworks, even though it is unarguably your home. That surprises people, and it is where a lot of accidental non-compliance begins.

New South Wales: the cap only touches non-hosted

Under SEPP (Housing) 2021, hosted short-term rental accommodation is exempt development with no day cap anywhere in the state, provided the general requirements are met. Non-hosted is exempt development only where it also stays within any applicable day cap: 180 days in a 365-day period in a prescribed area, or 60 days in Byron Shire outside the excluded land.

One detail is worth knowing because it can rescue a booking calendar. A stay of 21 or more consecutive nights to the same guests is excluded from the day count entirely. A handful of long stays can therefore materially change how many short ones you can take.

Sources: SEPP (Housing) 2021, ss111-113

Western Australia: hosted is exempt statewide

Western Australia draws the sharpest line in the country. Hosted short-term rental accommodation is exempt from planning approval anywhere in the state. Un-hosted is not, and in the 30 Perth metropolitan local governments it needs development approval once it passes 90 nights in a 12-month period measured from the date of registration.

Both categories still have to be on the state STRA Register. The exemption is from planning approval, not from registration, and conflating the two is a $20,000 mistake.

Sources: Short-Term Rental Accommodation planning reforms, WA

Tasmania: the line is drawn by bedrooms, not just presence

Tasmania is the jurisdiction where the usual mental model breaks. Under Planning Directive No. 6, the exemption from needing a planning permit covers letting up to four bedrooms, or letting the whole home while the owner or occupier is temporarily absent. Go beyond four bedrooms and you need a permit even though you are present.

So in Tasmania a large hosted property can require approval while a small unhosted one does not, which is the reverse of the pattern everywhere else. The draft Hobart specific area plan would then push in the opposite direction again by requiring the operator to live on site in the three residential zones.

Where the distinction changes your tax, not your planning

The ACT levy applies specifically to un-hosted accommodation. A stay with you or a permanent occupant on site is outside the scheme altogether, which makes this classification worth 5% of every booking, rising to 7.5% from 1 July 2027.

Victoria does it differently. Its 7.5% levy does not turn on presence at all; it turns on whether the property is your principal place of residence, which is exempt. A non-hosted stay in your own home while you are away is still exempt in Victoria and would still be caught in the ACT.

And whether your neighbours can stop you

Strata law uses the residence test rather than the presence test, and it is the reason the distinction is worth money in an apartment.

In New South Wales, a by-law under s137A can ban short-term rental accommodation only where the lot is not the principal place of residence of the person granting occupancy. In Victoria, an owners corporation rule made by 75% special resolution cannot apply to a lot that is the owner's or occupier's principal place of residence.

In both states, that means an investor's unit can be shut down by a vote and a resident's own home cannot.

How to classify yourself honestly

Work through it in this order and write the answer down, because you may need to justify it later.

• During the stay itself, is the host or a permanent occupant sleeping at the premises? That answer, not the listing description, is your hosted or non-hosted status.
• Do guests have exclusive use of the whole dwelling? If yes, treat it as non-hosted regardless of what you call it.
• Separately: is this the address you actually live at? That decides principal place of residence questions, including strata and the Victorian levy.
• In Tasmania, count the bedrooms let as well, because four is a threshold in its own right.
• If you are on the borderline, classify yourself into the stricter category. The cost of over-complying is a lower cap; the cost of under-complying is losing your exemption.

Common questions

Related

• Every night cap, and who it applies to
• Can strata ban you
• Levies, and which test each one uses
• Check a postcode