Melbourne neighbours demand tougher laws on short-stay rentals

Neighbours across Melbourne are in “absolute despair” over out-of-control parties and parking nightmares at short-stay rentals, with councils getting bombarded with complaints. The worst suburbs for short-stay trouble have been revealed as residents fight back.

Neighbours in Mooroolbark are fed up with constant unruly behaviour at a nearby short-term rental. Picture: Ellen Smith

Suburban ratepayers and renters fed up with noisy parties and parking chaos want tougher rules for short-stay rentals, such as Airbnb, booking.com and Stayz listings.

The pleas come on the back of reports of late-night revellers and blocked driveways from Brunswick to Healesville to Cheltenham.

Twenty councils polled by Leader recorded 671 complaints from neighbours about short-stay rentals over the past two years.

The vast majority of these were on the Mornington Peninsula (625), which is the only council which has a dedicated short-term accommodation local law and registration requirements.

More than 80 fines, ranging from unregistered properties to disturbing the peace and totalling $55,800, have been doled out to owners in Mornington since the local law came into effect in October last year.

Overall figures don’t include the City of Melbourne — estimated to be home to more than 7000 properties listed on various booking websites — which does not categorise complaints against short-term rentals.

There were 11 complaints in Yarra Ranges, 10 in Bayside, seven in Stonnington and six in Port Phillip, with parking, noise and safety issues the biggest gripes.

Marc Milinkovic says his complaints to Airbnb about a Doncaster property have fallen on deaf ears. Picture: Hamish Blair

In recent months Leader has reported on several incidents including:

* A WEDDING brawl that shut down Sydney Rd earlier this month, believed to be sparked by foul-mouthed revellers booted from a nearby Airbnb by police;

* UNRULY guests in Healesville disturbing neighbours with late-night noise, cars parked across driveways and guests urinating in their gardens;

* ROWDY parties in Doncaster, including a riot at one in March; and

* A WILD party caught on camera in a Cheltenham housing estate, which spilled out on to the street.

Councils and ratepayers — along with booking platforms such as Stayz — are calling for more statewide regulation of these kinds of rentals.

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The call comes despite Victorian laws introduced earlier this year, which enable owners corporations to issue breach notices for problems such as excessive noise, creating health and safety hazards or obstructing common property.

The law empowers VCAT to impose fines of up to $1100 for breaches and compensation of up to $2000 to affected residents.

Since February VCAT has processed three applications under the new law, two have been struck out and one is yet to be scheduled for a hearing.

The aftermath of a short-stay rental party in Abbington Ave, Cheltenham where an unlicensed teenager was arrested by police after his car clipped six other cars and a street sign at 3am. Picture: Supplied

Rocks were thrown when a party at a short-stay rental in Werribee turned violent. Picture: Nicole Garmston

The Werribee party aftermath. Picture: Nicole Garmston

Barbara Francis, director of residents’ advocacy group We Live Here, said there needed to be more regulation of the industry including mandatory registration, a code of conduct and levies for short-stay rentals owners.

“The laws introduced this year are totally unworkable, the penalties are so little and the government is not listening to people who are directly impacted by this,” she said.

A Healesville woman, who declined to be named, said neighbours were “given to absolute despair” thanks to three short-stay properties in their street.

“Owners need to be kept accountable and it can be hard to make a complaint because there are 20-30 different booking platforms and one property can be listed on multiple websites,” she said.

A State Government spokesman said: “We’ve regulated the short-stay sector to better protect Victorians and crack down on unruly behaviour in short-stay accommodation.”

He would not be drawn on whether the government would introduce a registration system, only that the laws would be reviewed within two years of being introduced.

Airbnb would not reveal how many neighbour complaints it had received.

A spokesman for the short-term rental giant said the “overwhelming majority of hosts and guests in Victoria were good neighbours and respectful travellers”.

“We have also supported tough new laws in Victoria to crackdown on bad actors,” he said.

Stayz spokesman Eacham Curry said there had been no complaints about Melbourne-based listings so far this year.

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He said the company encouraged owners and managers to build relationships with their neighbours so that any issues could be resolved, and that properties could be suspended or delisted if operators failed to meet Stayz listing standards.

“Stayz advocates for statewide regulation that contains a simple registration scheme for all holiday rental listing, a code of conduct that is backed by a strikes-based disciplinary scheme, and an industry body to adjudicate compliance with the code of conduct,” Mr Curry said.

Booking.com did not respond to Leader’s questions before deadline.