#27581
Toretti
Flatchatter

    Thank you Millie, I am aware that short term letting is not a residential lease under the NSW RTA. Thankfully, the NSW legislation is clear on this point.

    The real point I was trying to make is a more technical one but, in my view, an important one that goes to the character of the short term letting agreement, and the scope of subsection 139 (2).

    It is arguable (is it not) that a short term letting agreement is simply a licence to occupy . It is a contract for an accommodation service, but is at the will of the property owner. The consumer can be asked to leave at any time or the booking cancelled with nothing more than some low level consumer protection.

    As such a licence to occupy is not a ‘dealing’ in property because it does not create any legal or equitable interest in the property.

    If this is correct, and a license to occupy is not a dealing in property, subsection 139(2) has no application to short term letting and does not prevent an OC from passing a by law that explicitly addresses this topic.

    The only question is whether a by law is consistent with the zoning law. Thus for example, in North Sydney, the LEP does not permit this type of short term letting in residential areas. We are opposed to it on our estate, but are concerned that we will suffer retrospective lose of our rights to residential amenity under the existing LEP – not to mention the myriad issues associated with shared car parks, shared recreation facilities, etc. etc. etc.