Victoria to ban short-stay hosts and fine guests under 'unruly party' laws
Short-stay accommodation hosts in Victoria can now be banned from renting out their apartments, unruly guests can face fines and owners can be forced to pay their neighbours compensation after new laws passed the state parliament.
After promising to crack down on “inappropriate” short stays before the last election, Daniel Andrews’s government passed new regulations on Wednesday night, more than two years after the legislation was first introduced.
It comes as the state grapples with a number of high-profile, out-of-control parties at short-stay properties in both CBD apartments and homes in Melbourne’s suburbs.
The laws give the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (Vcat) the power to stop the renting out of shortstay apartments that have been used for unruly parties. The tribunal will also be able to fine guests up to $1,100 for making unreasonable noise, causing a health or security hazard, damaging common property or obstructing a resident from using their property.
Hosts whose properties are used for unruly parties could also be forced to pay their neighbours up to $2,000 in compensation. The legislation only applies to apartments governed by an owners’ corporation.
Last month, following the death of 19-year-old Laa Chol in a CBD apartment, Andrews said the government was also “open” to further tightening of short-stay accommodation regulations. That would be in addition to the new laws that passed on Wednesday.
The opposition supported the bill on Wednesday night but its consumer affairs spokeswoman, Heidi Victoria, said the new laws would make no difference to residents living in homes in the suburbs.
“It is very shortsighted of this government,” she said. “It does not help people who have these party houses next door as opposed to people in apartments – this only looks after those people.”
Melbourne ranks among the world’s top 20 cities for short-term rentals last year, according to data from Inside Airbnb.
Airbnb told a parliamentary inquiry into the industry last year that it had 26,000 listings across Victoria, including about 10,000 in Melbourne.
Airbnb’s head of public policy for Australia and New Zealand, Brent Thomas, welcomed the new laws, and said the company would welcome “further action against anti-social behaviour”.
“These laws will deter bad behaviour and punish the minority of people who do the wrong thing, while ensuring the overwhelming majority of
people who do the right thing aren’t unfairly penalised,” he said.
The New South Wales government last month took steps to more tightly regulate short-stay accommodation, while the WA government has said it is currently examining that state’s laws.
The NSW laws mean hosts can only rent up their properties for up to 180 nights a year, while owners’ corporations will have the power to pass bylaws to ban owners who do not live in their properties from offering them as short-stay accommodation.