Short stay rental industry slams Noosa Council’s crackdown on holiday homes

A “draconian” approach to regulating Noosa’s short stay rentals will hurt small businesses, the industry has warned.

Glenn McClellan is a short term accommodation operator in Noosa and he is not happy about new council plans that may affect rentals. Picture: John McCutcheon

A "draconian" approach to regulating Noosa's short stay rentals will reduce the number of properties available for tourists and hurt small businesses, the industry has warned.

Noosa Council will soon release its proposed local laws for short stay accommodation which are designed to crack down on problematic holiday homes.

Potential measures include annual fees for rental owners, complaints having to be handled within 30 minutes and rules around parking, noise and record keeping.

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Owners failing to comply could be fined or have their approval to let their homes or units removed.

Holiday Homes @ Noosa owner Glenn McClellan, whose business manages 75 holiday homes, said the council's "heavy handed" approach would hurt the region's tourism industry.

"Noosa needs the holiday house community, if we lose that the area will be worse for it," he said.

"There's no new hotels, no new units being introduced and the tourists are still coming.

"The airport to the Sunshine Coast hasn't geared up so what happens when it does? Where will people stay?"

He said self-regulation had not worked within the short-stay industry but the council's "draconian" approach was a step too far.

Mr McClellan said his business had a zero-tolerance approach to bad behaviour and guests must sign a code of conduct that stipulated a no party and noise policy.

He said other holiday home managers should do the same.

A majority of councillors on Thursday night voted in favour of releasing the amended proposed local law for short stay accommodation for public consultation.

Mayor Clare Stewart said the key focus was to protect residential amenity.

She encouraged residents to look at the changes made to the local law and have their say on the matter when consultation started on May 9.

Stayz corporate affairs director Eacham Curry is encouraging holiday home owners to speak out against Noosa Council's proposed short stay accommodation local laws.

Stayz corporate affairs director Eacham Curry said the council should be lobbying for statewide regulation instead.

"Arbitrary regulations for holiday rentals not only put the economic uplift associated with the tourism sector at risk, but also fail to address the four most consistently raised questions about our industry, namely; housing affordability, housing availability, the impact on government resources and service provision, and finally, impact on neighbourhood amenity," Mr Curry said.

Stayz wants the State Government to introduce compulsory and simple registration for short-term rental accommodation properties, a mandatory code of conduct for all owners and managers and an industry-funded body to address problems and questions about amenity, noise and overcrowding at properties.

Originally published as Short stay rental industry slams Noosa Council’s crackdown on holiday homes