In Brief

• Noosa Shire Council is facing a housing crisis
• Council have developed a new Draft Housing Strategy
• The draft Strategy is now open for community comment
• A Housing Stakeholder Reference Group (HSRG) has been established and has had its first meeting
• The HSRG will work with Council on implementing the Housing Strategy
• RG Strategic Director, Russell Green, has been selected to sit on the HSRG

Noosa is facing a housing crisis

The lack of affordable housing in the Shire has been blamed for keeping out workers and forcing some businesses to shrink or close altogether.

Noosa isn’t the first council to face these challenges as the region’s popularity skyrockets.

Byron Bay faces the same challenges, and in that location, some businesses have taken the extreme measure of bussing staff to work from neighbouring areas.

During peak seasons, some businesses are forced to source staff from further away and put them up in accommodation.

Housing stock pressured

The challenge hasn’t just been created by an influx of new money from metropolitan centres, increasing demand and hence price for housing in the Shire.

It is, for a better word, a perfect storm of a number of factors which include interstate migration due to COVID, some properties through platforms such as Airbnb going into the short-term accommodation market, limited land supplies, underdevelopment of land that has potential for greater density and simply the desirability for those at the end of their working career to seek a place in the sun for retirement.

The crisis will worsen

In December 2021 council endorsed a Housing Needs Assessment (HNA). The HNA identified seven key issues to be addressed in any amendments to Noosa’s Planning Scheme.

These issues are:

• Housing affordability, especially for low-income households and critical workers;
• A lack of accessible or adaptable housing for older people and people with special needs;
• A mismatch of housing size and household size (albeit some may be by choice or circumstance);
• A shortage of affordable and appropriate aged accommodation;
• A lack of housing diversity, particularly smaller dwellings;
• Low levels of social and emergency housing;
• A conflict between resident and visitor accommodation.

We know that housing affordability in the Shire has been impacted. We also know that not enough has been done to accommodate a growing need for housing for our older generation and those with special needs.

The significant finding in the report is the mismatch of housing size versus household size.

The highest proportion of two-person households live in 3 bedroom houses.

The second-largest proportion of two-person households live in 4 bedroom houses. The report does highlight that this may be either through choice or circumstance, but it’s a challenge for Council in any case.

In addition, there’s a need for an additional 6400 dwellings in the Shire over the next 20 years. With limited developable land available, this adds to the challenge faced by Noosa Council.

The HNA report correctly points out the challenges and opportunities faced by Council:

• Meeting the housing needs of residents in the light of competing demand for tourist accommodation;
• Making optimal use of remaining land through smaller lot sizes and minimum density requirements for attached dwellings in some locations;
• Considering new built form controls and any appropriate incentives to achieve objectives while preserving the integrity of the Noosa Plan;
• Exploring new and innovative solutions, some of which may be challenging to accept;
• Considering other ways to pursue housing objectives.

Council acts with draft housing strategy

There is a need for Council to intervene and develop a plan that will accommodate the need for affordable housing and deliver the additional dwellings needed over the next two decades.

The first step Council took was to endorse the HNA report. Council has now taken the second step and developed a Draft Housing Strategy, which is now subject to community consultation.

Noosa Shire Council’s Draft Housing Strategy aims to address the pressing housing crisis impacting the region.

The Draft Housing Strategy outlines Council’s role in delivering better housing outcomes to meet the diverse needs of people in the Shire. Council has recognised its role to monitor this challenge; advocate for increased investment in the supply of affordable housing; plan and regulate to ensure appropriate provisioning of housing and housing choice; and partner with State and Commonwealth governments to increase the provision of social and community housing.

Council, however, does also make it clear that it will not become a direct housing provider.

Have your say

You can now have your say on the draft Strategy by accessing the survey form on Council’s website.

We encourage everyone to review the draft housing strategy and then lodge any relevant comments or concerns via the community feedback portal.

Community feedback is sought until 7 August 2022.

Housing strategy outcomes and actions

The draft Housing Strategy outlines several outcomes and actions that will help Council address the housing crisis.

Broadly, these outcomes are:

• Noosa community benefits from industry expertise, best practice and local knowledge in the housing sector;
• Sufficient housing is provided to accommodate the planned population of the Shire;
• New housing is located in areas that are accessible and well-connected to services, employment, and infrastructure;
• Development and redevelopment for housing is diverse, meeting varied and changing needs of people across their life;
• Housing is available for all members of the Noosa Shire community, including individuals and households on low to moderate incomes;
• Housing is well designed and adds to residents’ safety, security and wellbeing;
• Housing is enduring and resilient to natural processes and changes without putting people or property at risk of hazards;
• Sustainable tourism accommodation is facilitated where it is complementary to, and compatible with other land uses, including housing, and maintains a community’s sense of place.

A Housing Strategy Stakeholder Reference Group

The third step was establishing a Housing Stakeholder Reference Group (HSRG), which will work with Council on implementing the Housing Strategy and a range of housing issues.

The HSRG seeks to draw on local expertise and will include representation from a variety of sectors, including:

• State member/s;
• Department of Communities, Housing and Digital Economy;
• QShelter;
• Registered Community Housing Providers;
• NDIS Specialist Disability Accommodation providers;
• Residential Care providers;
• Homelessness support services;
• Business and Tourism sector;
• Permanent Rental Property Managers;
• Local private housing developers.

Council has selected RG Strategic owner and director Russell Green to sit on the HSRG as a local town planning consultant and we are excited to be part of this group to help Council promote, shape and implement the new housing strategy.

First meeting outcomes

The first meeting of the HSRG has met, and it was refreshing to see such a broad, representative group come together to tackle this crisis.

We believe that a bold approach is required in order to have an impact on this issue. Nothing should be off the table, including a review of the current planning scheme informed by the population and housing data we already have access to.

We also echo the sentiments of other representatives of the group including:

• Getting information about the draft housing strategy to as many people as possible;
• Council’s response needs to be rapid, but we recognise that a change in available housing stock will take years to appear;
• Many who are affected – renters, low-income residents – will be less likely to participate in the community engagement process so additional attention needs to be given to this cohort;
• The need for community champions to help amplify the message and Council’s response.

Conclusion

Undoubtedly, this housing crisis is one of the most challenging and urgent problems Council faces.

There are inherent risks in addressing a crisis that will play out over 20 years or more by looking at what has been done and what can be done today.

But this is a step in the right direction. Council needs to act and is doing so. The key now is to ensure we can get all the respective parties to the table and make decisions for the whole of the community for today and tomorrow.

The post Will Noosa’s new housing strategy deliver? appeared first on RG Strategic.

RG Strategic’s town planners have been poring over the documents to date but, while we are happy to start seeing some details, we still have questions. These new laws are not something to be taken lightly as interpreting and implementing them incorrectly can cost you your opportunity to operate short term accommodation in Noosa.

We’ve already met with council to further understand council’s requirements and it goes without saying that there’s a lot of info and it can be quite confusing.

Below we have summarised the current requirements as we have been able to document them. But until the final application form is released, we can only make an informed judgment on the requirements.

Note that a one-off application for approval is required for all short stay let properties, requiring an annual renewal while the property continues to be used for short-stay letting.

It should be noted that council separate short term accommodation and home-hosted accommodation, which includes bed and breakfast style offerings or hosting people in a spare room. An application is still required for these types of operations but some requirements are different. Find out more on council’s website. The information required for an application is very similar to STA applications with only minor omissions such as contact person information for complaints as it is expected there will be a person onsite to direct any complaint to initially.

24/7 Complaints

The change with a big impost is one we highlight here. The requirement of individual operators living within 20km of the property that we raised our concern about in our original discussion of these changes is still there. This effectively means that anyone who operates STA will need to live within 20 kilometres of the premise or they will have to engage a property manager within that radius who will become the nominated contact. This will add an extra impost to the cost of operating STA.

Once approved, you will be required to display a notice showing approval at the front of the property. If you are in a complex you will need to abide by body corporate laws. The notice will need to include a 24/7 complaints hotline number and approval number.

In the first instance, all complaints will be directed to Council’s 24/7 hotline. Council will then contact the responsible person for the property. This person must attend to the complaint within 30 minutes of them receiving the complaint.

Naturally, this raises a number of additional concerns.

If there is more than one property offering STA in a complex, how will the complainant know which specific property is the cause of their complaint? How will council address the issues when they receive a complaint about a whole unit block and not an individual property? How will council address vexatious complainants who may just be protesting an approved STA operator?

There are a lot of questions yet to be answered but we have some serious concerns about how this complaints process will be administered.

Our Other Questions and Concerns

The new local laws require you to submit a site plan for the property that you are applying for. This includes the requirement to show each window and door of any adjoining residence.

To date no information has been provided as to the detail required in these plans or what council, in this instance, classifies as an adjoining residence. What detail is required in these site plans of the neighbouring properties? Will operators be required to gain access to neighbouring properties to accurately survey windows and doors and document precisely placements and measurements, or is a “mud map” acceptable?

Currently, how accurate these plans need to be and the level of detail has not been stipulated.

There’s also a requirement for full public liability insurance for an amount of at least $10 million. Now some, if not all, residential building insurance policies include a legal liability cover but in many cases, they also include exclusions if you are operating a business from the premises insured. We would advise all operators to discuss their insurance cover with their provider to ensure they have the appropriate cover required by council.

Once we see the final application form (due early next year) we can provide concrete advice and assistance when progressing an application for short term accommodation in Noosa. Until then we’ll continue to liaise with council to ensure we have the latest information to help our clients get all their ducks in a row before applications open.

What information is required to make an application for STA approval?

An application form must be completed and application fees paid*.

The following information must also be provided with the application:

• A plan of the premises
  • a site plan showing the location of all buildings including any outdoor entertainment area, swimming pool or spa, vehicle parking area and the location of each window and door opening of any adjoining residence;
  • a floor plan showing the use of each room and the maximum number of people to be accommodated in each bedroom.
• Confirmation the premises can be lawfully used for short stay letting
  • by a development approval; or
  • as accepted development or accepted development subject to requirements in Noosa Plan 2020; or
  • by existing use rights; and
  • complies with development approval conditions or if for existing use rights, the relevant planning scheme requirements at the time the short stay letting use commenced.
• Confirmation
  • the premises will not be used as a party house;
  • the premises is lawfully constructed and classified for its use;
  • a current pool safety certification has been issued by a licensed QBCC pool safety inspector; and
  • a current electrical safety certification for the smoke alarms has been issued by a licensed electrical contractor.
• Contact person information
  • name and telephone number of the contact person responsible for the premises (may include an individual, letting agency, property manager, security firm or the like);
  • confirmation the contact person is:
  • available 24 hours a day 7 days per week;
  • within 20km of the premises; and
  • responsible for the premises including addressing complaints and visitor queries.

*Fees have been waived until June 30, 2022

The bullets above outline the information required for the application. As discussed we await more specific detail about some of these points.

We also note that currently there are additional requirements not highlighted in the application process such as the development of a Code of Conduct for guests. You also need to make available upon request a register of complaints and a register of guests.

Short Stay and Short Term Accommodation Town Planning Consultants

We still have questions and we continue to engage with council to clarify some of the questions we have raised today and in the past. As we get closer and closer to the implementation of these new laws we can understand why many operators are concerned about meeting council’s requirements precisely.

Don’t risk your STA operation. Make sure you talk to the experts at RG Strategic. We’ll handle all facets of your application and approval.

The RG Strategic town planning team have invested the time to understand the new laws and how they need to be interpreted and applied. If you have any concerns about your application, ensuring you meet requirements so you can continue your operation, talk to us today. We are here to help.

Feature Photo by Francesca Tosolini on Unsplash

The post New Short Term Accommodation Laws in Noosa – What you need to Know! appeared first on RG Strategic.

READ ABOUT THE PUBLISHED CHANGES TO THE STA LAWS IN OUR LATEST ARTICLE

Our team is currently poring over the document identifying any changes to the initially proposed rules and any new rules that may have appeared as well.

We expect a lot of discussion and opinions to enter the public sphere before this is tabled at Tuesday’s Planning and Environment Committee meeting.

You can download the Council report here.

Subscribe to our email newsletter and be one of the first to receive our analysis, insights, and opinion of the proposed changes.

Subscribe now here.

We’ll also publish our thoughts here as soon as we can.

The post Noosa Council Releases Short Stay Accommodation Report appeared first on RG Strategic.