While court judgments such as the Watergate Docklands case are swinging in favour of the right to use residential apartments for short-term letting through sites like Stayz and Airbnb, the NSW government has quietly slipped a useful provision in its new model by-laws that will help those trying to stop this practice.

New model by-law 17 (link here) requires that 21 days’ notice be given to the owners corporation of a change of use of a lot for short term or holiday letting. This small inroad will at least put an owners corporation on notice of what’s going on in a lot and allow the owners corporation suspecting the practice is occurring to flush out the facts with a breach notice.

There will be more attention and government regulation on this topic but for now owners for and against will get their best guidance on what’s allowed and what’s not by checking town planing guidelines and using by-laws to make enquiries about whether the use is lawful.

The new model by-laws will not apply unless they are specifically adopted on a building by building basis. Let us know via our contact page or by calling 0402 852 145 if we can help with this.

Published by bylawsonline

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