› Flat Chat Strata Forum › Airbnb and holiday lets › Could a by-law block tenants from listing on Airbnb? › Current Page
Can a by-law be created for the OC to penalise (be it financially and/or an order for eviction) of a tenant who offers a room or the entire premises for short term letting without the approval of the landlord?
No. Section 139 of the Act says:
By-law cannot prevent dealing relating to lot
No by-law is capable of operating to prohibit or restrict the devolution of a lot or a transfer, lease, mortgage or other dealing relating to a lot.
The owners corporation has no dog in this fight, unless there are by-laws in place that prevent short-term lets by anyone.
FYI: This section was used for many years to block by-laws that prevented owners from listing on Airbnb, until the Appeals Court in WA and the Law Lords in the UK ruled that since planning laws forbade short-term lets in apartment blocks, there was no right to run Airbnbs for the by-laws to inerfere with. That’s why the NSW government changed the laws.
When it comes to Tenants sub-letting, the standard residential tenancy agreement allows the tenant to sublet part of the property with the written permission of the landlord which can’t be unreasonably refused.
However, the landlord can refuse the transfer or subletting of the entire property.
By the way, since, under the new laws you can’t have by-laws restricting short-term rental of part of a property while the owner or tenant is in residence, there is nothing to stop a tenant from letting a room on Airbnb or its ilk. Sub-letting the whole unit is another matter entirely.