The Draft Position Statement: Planning for Tourism and Guidelines gives direction to local governments on managing short-term rental accommodation within their local planning framework.
It provides updated definitions on the use of houses, units and apartments for short-term rental accommodation, and seeks comment on whether providers of unhosted and hosted accommodation should be exempt from requiring development approval in certain circumstances.
The Position Statement includes a definition for 'hosted' accommodation, which is exempt from development approval where the person who lives in the house or dwelling is present when guests are staying.
One of the proposals out for consultation includes a 'cap on nights' for unhosted accommodation, where dwellings rented out for a designated number of days per calendar year do not require development approval.
Any premises used for more than the designated amount of days will be considered used for holidays and will require development approval, unless the local government chooses to extend this exemption via a change to its local planning scheme.
The draft planning policy is part of the McGowan Government's response to the recommendations of the 2019 Parliamentary inquiry 'Levelling the Playing Field - Managing the impact of the rapid increase of Short-Term Rentals in Western Australia'.
To support the changes, the Department of Local Government, Sport and Cultural Industries is investigating the implementation of a new State-wide registration system.
Under the proposed registration system, providers of short-term rental accommodation within Western Australia would be required to register their property to operate and advertise, including on online booking platforms.
Owners would receive a unique registration number, which would need to be advertised alongside the short-term rental.
To have your say on the new planning policy visit https://consultation.dplh.wa.gov.au/tourism-position-statement/
