Short Stay Letting

Short stay letting:

(a) means the provision, or making available, of premises for use by 1 or more persons, other than the owner of            the premises, for less than 3 consecutive months; but

(b) does not include any of the following:

• shared facility accommodation
• home hosted accommodation
• accommodation in a hotel
• accommodation in a motel
• backpacker accommodation.

Note: Home hosted accommodation is separately defined and requires approval under the local law.

A short stay letting or home hosted accommodation property must have lawful town planning rights to operate prior to gaining a local law approval. This must be demonstrated in the application.

Lawful planning rights may be through a development approval; as accepted development or accepted development subject to requirements in Noosa Plan 2020; existing use rights; or a superseded planning scheme approval. This is explained further below.

• Development approval 
  Development approval may have been issued under the current Noosa Plan 2020 or previous planning schemes that permits short term accommodation or home hosted accommodation. Many unit developments will fall under this category where the approval was issued generally prior to The Noosa Plan 2006.
• Accepted development or accepted development subject to requirements in Noosa Plan 2020
  This applies to short stay letting of not more than 4 times and 60 days per calendar year or home hosted accommodation in Low Density Residential zone.
• Existing use rights
  Existing use rights applies largely to dwelling houses that were lawfully operating short term accommodation under previous planning schemes and prior to the commencement of Noosa Plan 2020 on 31 July 2020. Evidence must be provided with the application demonstrating the property has existing lawful use rights to operate short term accommodation (e.g. written advice confirming existing use rights from Council, history of past bookings prior to 31 July 2020, property management agreements etc).
• History of past booking must be provided on the platform’s letter head (i.e. Stayz, AirBnB etc.) in pdf.
• The bookings must be presented in a format that details the number of bookings, dates and duration of stay and number of occupants.
• Superseded planning scheme approval
  This applies to properties issued an approval for short term accommodation within the 12 month period following the introduction of Noosa Plan 2020 between 31 July 2020 and 31 July 2021.
• The short stay letting or home hosted accommodation use must comply with development approval conditions or if for existing use rights, the relevant planning scheme requirements at the time the use commenced.
  
  Refer to the Short Term Accommodation Guide for further information.

Short stay letting, including properties with existing use rights, will require a one-off approval under the local law. Approval is required if the premises is:

• short stay let on an ongoing basis;
• your principal place of residence and is short stay let on occasions for no more than 4 times and 60 days per calendar year.

The approval must be renewed annually while short stay letting continues to operate at the premises.

Properties exempt from requiring approval under the local law

If the property is identified as an exempt premises below, approval is not required under the local law:

• visitor accommodation only sites and the Hastings Street Mixed Use precinct identified under Noosa Plan 2020. Sites are shown in the Short stay letting exemption map in the tab below and described in section 2 of the local law; and
• motels, hotels, backpackers and holiday houses used by owners and not let for commercial gain, which are not regarded as short stay letting.

Find out information on how to make an application.

Application fees 2024/2025

Annual renewal fees

Commencing 1 July 2024*

An application form must be completed for each property^ and application fees paid*.

The following information must also be provided with the application:

A plan of the premises:

• a site plan showing location of all buildings including any outdoor entertainment area, swimming pool or spa, vehicle parking area and the location of each window and door opening of any adjoining residence;

• a floor plan showing use of each room and the maximum number of people to be accommodated in each bedroom.

Confirmation the premises can be lawfully used for short stay letting:

• by a development approval; or

• as accepted development or accepted development subject to requirements in Noosa Plan 2020; or

• by existing use rights; and

• complies with development approval conditions or if for existing use rights, the relevant planning scheme requirements at the time the short stay letting use commenced.

Refer to the Short Term Accommodation Guide for further information.

Confirmation and evidence

• the premises will not be used as a party house; 

• written confirmation as evidence, such as a Form 29 or statement from a building certifier, the premises is lawfully constructed and has the correct building classification for short stay letting;

• written evidence of a current pool safety certification issued by a licensed QBCC pool safety inspector; and

• written evidence of a current electrical safety certification for the smoke alarms issued by a licensed electrical contractor.the premises will not be used as a party house.

Contact person information:

• name and telephone number of the contact person responsible for the premises (may include an individual, letting agency, property manager, security firm or the like);

• confirmation the contact person is:

  • available 24 hours a day 7 days per week;

  • within 20km of the premises; and

  • responsible for the premises including addressing complaints and visitor queries.

^ A single application can be lodged by onsite property managers on behalf of the properties within their onsite letting pool.

Conditions will be placed on the approval which must be met at all times. A full set of conditions are  attached and summarised in brief below.

Contact person

Up to date contact person details must be identified for the premises at all times (which may include an individual, letting agent, property manager, security firm or the like), who:

• is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week;
• resides or has a place of business within 20 km of the premises;
• is responsible for the supervisions and management of the premises including addressing complaints and visitor queries;
• is responsible for responding to each complaint within 30 minutes of receiving the complaint.

Approval notice (signage)

• A 0.2m2 approval notice must be displayed Permanent and Prominently at the front of the premises in public view with letters not less than 50mm in height with the contact details for Council’s 24/7 complaints hotline and the approval number. 

Advice note for signs:

• The sign must be made of durable weather proof materials.
• There are no colour requirements for the sign, however black or dark lettering with a lighter background in muted tones is preferred.  

Please ensure that you keep to the following dimensions when having your sign made:

1. Maximum sign size of 0.2m2
2. Preferred dimension 0.4m x 0.5m
3. Minimum letter height of 50mm

Advice note: Properties in a community titles scheme (body corporate)

• If the premises forms part of a community titles scheme, the approval holder must notify the body corporate of the approval and make available the contact details for Council’s 24/7 complaints hotline and the approval number for the premises at a location which complies with their by-laws.

• Where a property forms part of a community titles scheme, the approval holder must notify the body corporate of the approval. Each approved unit will have an individual approval number that will be linked to a “main approval number” allocated to the body corporate.
  
  The main approval number allows for a single approval notice (sign) to be placed on the property as opposed to multiple signs for each individual approved unit.
  
  The main approval number will be allocated to the body corporate when the first unit on the property is given approval.
  
  The main approval sign will cover all future short stay let approvals on the property.
  
  The main approval sign is required at the front of the property in a location that can be easily viewed by the public. ​​​​​​The main approval sign must identify:
  • the main approval number allocated to the body corporate; and
  • the complaints hotline number.
     
• The body corporate should also provide a list of all individual short stay let approved units and approval numbers in the building’s common foyer / entry area or provide regular updates to unit owners of recent approvals. A floor plan showing which units have an approval may also be helpful for residents.
  
  If a complaint is made regarding a unit on the property, the hotline operator will prompt the caller for a unit number. The responsible contact person for that unit will be notified to deal with the complaint.

Residential amenity

• The operation of short stay letting must not negatively affect surrounding residential amenity including but not limited to noise, overlooking or light spill.
• The operation of short stay letting must not constitute a nuisance, including noise nuisance.
• Provision is made for occupants to leave and enter the premises without causing a disturbance to adjoining residents.

Vehicle parking

Provision is made for parking of the occupant’s vehicles on the premises, including boats, trailers, jet skis and the like and stored to not cause a nuisance or inconvenience to adjoining premises. Onsite parking facilities must be used where provided.

Camping and caravanning prohibited

No provision is made for sleeping or camping on the premises in a tent, caravan, campervan or similar.

Insurance

Broadform public liability insurance is held at all times which provides indemnity in an amount not less than $10,000,000.

Waste management

• Waste and recycling bins are provided and kept clean, tidy and in a hygienic condition.
• Waste containers are placed on the kerb side frontage for collection and for no longer than 24 hours before or after collection day.
• If part of a community titles scheme and the body corporate manages the bins, then consistent with bylaws.
• If there is no kerb side general waste collection – waste must be removed and disposed of at a general waste facility.

Complaints register

A written record of each complaint received must be kept including the details of the complaint, date and time of the complaint and how the complaint was resolved or addressed, and must be kept for a period of 2 years.

Guest register

A register must be kept of each occasion the premises was used for short stay letting, the duration and the number of guests and must be kept for a period of 2 years.

Council inspection of records

The complaints register and the guest register must be made available for inspection by Council within 5 business days.

Code of conduct displayed and made available

The code of conduct for guest behaviour must be displayed in a prominent location within the premises, made available to guests and on websites or social media used to promote the premises.

The code of conduct for guest behaviour outlines minimum behavioural standards for guests to maintain the residential amenity of surrounding permanent residents. The code of conduct is a condition of approval and must be adhered to.

The code of conduct (PDF)

Vehicles to be stored to not cause a nuisance or inconvenience to adjoining premises, and be parked within parking facilities on the premises where provided.

Use of the premises, including any outdoor area of the premises, for example, an outdoor entertainment area, deck, balcony, swimming pool or spa, must not:

• detrimentally affect the residential amenity (including but not limited to noise, overlooking or light spill) enjoyed by residents adjoining or in the vicinity of the premises; or
• cause a nuisance (including a noise nuisance); or
• display unacceptable behavior (for example loud aggressive behaviour; yelling, screaming, arguing; excessively loud cheering, clapping or singing; or create a level of noise which is in excess of the acceptable levels described by Queensland Government legislation for environmental protection (noise).

An occupant of the premises must not sleep or camp on the premises in a tent, caravan, campervan or similar facility.

Pets occupying the premises must be managed and not cause a nuisance (including a noise nuisance).

General waste (including the separation of recyclable waste) must be placed in a waste container.

The grounds of the premises are kept in a safe and tidy condition.

All complaints are directed to Council’s 24/7 hotline - (07) 5329 6466 - in the first instance. The hotline will contact the responsible contact person for the property to attend to the complaint within 30 minutes of them receiving the complaint. The hotline will record the complaint details and how the matter was resolved.

The contact person must attend to the complaint until the matter is resolved to the satisfaction of the code of conduct for guest behaviour.

If guests are displaying aggressive or anti-social behaviour the Police may need to be notified to attend to the property.

For more informaiton visit the complaints and statistics page. 

If the contact person does not respond to a complaint or resolve it to the satisfaction of the code of conduct for guest behaviour, the matter may be elevated and notified to Council.

Council’s compliance officers will investigate the matter and whether the contact person acted in accordance with the requirements of the local law and whether there was a breach.

If Council’s investigation determines there was a breach, action may be undertaken and a compliance notice issued to the approval holder for the premises.