The Tasmanian Planning Commission has handed down recommendations over the state’s short-stay accommodation regulations, including a call for further controls on visitor accommodation within strata schemes.
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The Liberals introduced regulations last year which were assessed by the TPC, assisted by 21 public submissions and two days of hearings.
It has recommended the government reduce the permitted floor area for short-stay accommodation properties with more than four bookable rooms.
It has told the government to monitor and review the impacts its policy had on the housing affordability and availability.
The commission said the government should monitor the number of planning permits being issued for visitor accommodation in a dwelling which no longer had residential use.
It said where the owner of a short-term accommodation property was permanently absent, it could have impacts on other properties such as those in a strata scheme arrangement, like a block of apartments or collection of units.
The commission said these impacts were not addressed under the government’s policy and additional criteria needed to be included for consideration in strata schemes.
The commission’s recommendations come after the New South Wales Government announced it would cap short-term accommodation properties to a maximum of six months of the year for greater Sydney rentals.
Short-term accommodation use for properties within strata titles would be prohibited through a by-law if 75 per cent of neighbours agreed the owner did not live in that property.
Under the state’s Strata Titles Act, a body corporate may make a by-law that covers the use and enjoyment of the lots and common property. A by-law may impose a minimum term, not exceeding 6 months, for the letting of lots.
Many of the state’s strata schemes do not have formal body corporate structures.
Local Government Association of Tasmania president Doug Chipman said properties which were private residences and those which were investments should be differentiated in the context of short-term visitor accommodation.
“We believe that the regulation for investment properties and shacks should be left to councils to define” he said.
Labor’s housing spokesman Josh Willie said the recommended minor regulatory changes did not go far enough to address issues with housing affordability.
Greens leader Cassy O’Connor said permits to covert residential property to short-stay property in areas with tight rental markets needed to be paused.
Popular online short-stay marketplace, Airbnb, has 4459 Tasmanian listings.
More than three-quarters of these listings are for entire homes and apartments.
The rest are for private rooms.
