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Hi All,
i wanted to know if airbnb is aloud in brissy and how to check a body corp if it is allowed before making an offer? do you just read the bylaws?
what are the rules/laws around it in qld?
Cheers, Elives
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I may be wrong – Queensland is another planet as far as strata is concerned – but I think some schemes have by-laws that require you to inform them that you are letting out your unit on airbnb. So yes, check the scheme’s by-laws.
As far as I know, unlike NSW, Queensland law doesn’t allow buildings to ban airbnb. Have a look at this article from Sisters In Law:
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Hi Elives
See this very recent Adjudicator’s Order from Lynkim Lodge [2016] QBCCMCmr 419 (14 September 2016) for the latest thinking on Airbnb in Queensland.
I have copied the Conclusion below.
Please try and read the whole Order. It can be accessed via this link to the Austlii site.
Conclusion
[25] It would be contrary to the Act for the Body Corporate for Lynkim Lodge to record a by-law that prevented owners from leasing their lot for less than three months, regardless of whether the rental was arranged directly or via a traditional property manager or via a rental service such as Airbnb. It follows that Motion 4 at the March 2016 EGM was beyond the power of the Body Corporate to pass and could not lawfully be implemented. I have invalidated that resolution.
[26] The applicant subsequently asked for an order that the Committee not vote on any proposed resolution that would restrict the right of an owner to use any lawful service to acquire tenancies of any duration. I am not clear what the applicant is asking for, but an adjudicator cannot make orders about hypothetical future contraventions of the body corporate legislation.[9]The limits on the power to make by-laws should now be clear and if the Body Corporate sought to impose improper restrictions on letting in future that decision could likewise be challenged.
[27] The concerns of the Body Corporate and other owners regarding the noise and other offending conduct allegedly caused by the applicant and his tenants can be addressed separately. The current CMS for the scheme[10] includes by-laws about noise (By-law 1), parking on common property (By-law 2), and rubbish and garbage disposal (By-laws 7 and 10). By-law 6 requires an occupier to take reasonable steps to ensure that their invitees do not behave in a way likely to interfere with the peaceful enjoyment of others. The Body Corporate, owners and residents can utilise the by-law enforcement processes in the Act if these are not complied with.[11] If the current by-laws do not adequately cover all the areas of current concern, the Body Corporate could consider resolving to amend or add to the by-law to impose additional obligations or restrictions to reduce adverse impacts on other residents. However in doing so the Body Corporate must always act reasonably[12] and its decisions can be challenged if it does not.
[28] The applicant should consider giving more explicit directions to his guests about appropriate conduct during their visit, particularly regarding noise, parking and bins, and ensure that he abides by the by-laws when he is in residence.@Elives said:
I see so this is good news then!?It’s only good news if you are planning to run airbnb against the wishes of your neighbours.
But, to be honest, strata laws in Queensland are fundamentally garbage, totally skewed towards developers and their henchpersons (aka contracted caretakers) so you may as well get your snout in the trough too.
Ironically, the aforementioned caretakers will find ways – legal and otherwise – of not letting airbnb into the building if it starts affecting their rental rolls. Good luck.
NB: This forum does not support the “sharing” lie at the heart of the short-stay letting industry’s sales pitch.
Inviting paying guests into your home is fine but short-stay lets of entire apartments is not sharing – it’s leeching off the majority of residents so that a minority can make an extra buck and to hell with the consequences for anyone else.
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See here for the Brisbane City Council Fact Sheet relating to Short Term Accommodation:
The language is not prohibitive. You will note phrases such as “is unlikely to be”, and “this would likely be”.
Fines may be up to $2356 but so far BCC has not issued any infringements.
See this comment from the Lynkim case: [22] The legislation does not define or qualify the term ‘residential purposes’ in section 180(3). The section does not say, for example, “if a lot may lawfully be used for a specific type of residential purpose”. I am satisfied that the plain English meaning of ‘residential purposes’ includes any type of residential purpose, including short and long term letting and permanent residency. There is no suggestion that lots in this scheme cannot lawfully be used for residential purposes. It follows then that the attempt to record a by-law to limit the type of residential use of a lot to only long term letting or permanent residency is a restriction of the type of residential use contrary to subsection (3).
And: [24] Adjudicators have consistently held that by-laws which attempt to prevent the short term letting of lots (including where there are local government or building classification concerns regarding short term letting) were invalid.[8]