For: Short Term Rental Accommodation STRA
So, you have a Holiday Rental. Before you can advertise or rent it out to guests, you need to register it via the NSW Planning Portal.
However, there is a lot of Fire Safety that is required to be conducted before you can register it! You’ve been told it needs an STRA ID Number … but where do you start?
Our packages will address all of the Fire Safety measures you’ll need, from the Smoke Alarms right through to the Fire Evacuation Plans & everything in between.
The NSW Government & NSW Fair Trading have announced a NSW Statewide policy for a Short Term Holiday Rental (STRA) that “applies a clear and consistent set of rules while protecting the rights of hosts, guests and neighbours across NSW” ~ NSW Government “Information for Hosts”
It goes on to explain that “Under the changes to the Environmental Planning and Assessment Regulation 2000 hosts may receive a penalty notice offence for not complying with the fire safety standard or registering on the new Government-run STRA Register”
Along with potential penalty notices, there is also a “2 strikes” policy. This policy includes a potential five year ban on the STRA for 2 strikes against the policy in a 2 year period, so has a significant impact on STRA operators.
So what’s involved?
First, it’s important to know what your building type is. For example, there are different legal requirements for a unit compared to a house.
Class 1a Building: A standalone house, townhouses that sit side-by-side (nobody lives above or below each other, no commercial buildings involved in the property)
Class 2 & 4 Buildings: Where people live “above & below each other” (eg unit blocks)
OR: A unit that sits above a commercial dwelling.
See below for more detailed definitions.
Once you know your building type, you can identify what your STRA property is legally required to have:
Term | Definition | Class 1a Building* | A Class 1a building is a single dwelling being a detached house; or one of a group of attached dwellings being a town house, row house or the like |
|---|---|
Class 2 Building* | A Class 2 buildings are apartment buildings. They are typically multi-unit residential buildings where people live above & below each other. |
Class 4 Building* | A Class 4 part of a building is a sole dwelling or residence within a building of a non-residential nature (for example, a unit over a commercial shop). There can only be one Class 4 part in a building. |
Storey* | This is the same meaning that it has in the Building Code of Australia. |
Dwelling^ | This has the same meaning as in the Standard Instrument-Principal Local Environmental Plan. |
STRA | Stands for: Short Term Rental Accommodation |
Host | The owner, tenant or permanent resident of a dwelling who uses the dwelling to provide short term rental accommodation |
*These definitions have the same meaning that it has in the Building Code of Australia.
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^this has the same meaning as in the Standard Instrument-Principal Local Environmental Plan.
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