Stage 1 FAQ's

For the purposes of the City’s Holiday Home Regulatory Framework, a dwelling is being used as a Holiday Home when a contract of hire is in place and a reward (payment) is provided. If the dwelling is being used for private and personal use only, and there is no commercial agreement in place, then it is not being used as a Holiday Home, and therefore the Conditions of Registration would not apply.

The new rules, including the Conditions of Registration and Code of Conduct, start from the date of your new Certificate of Registration.

Yes, they do. You will need to inform all existing bookings of the new rules.

The City’s Holiday Home Local Law guides the management of Holiday Homes in the District. Every premises is required to have a nominated manager; and the owner, manager, and occupants are further required to comply with the Conditions of Registration.

The Code of Conduct stems directly from the City’s Holiday Home Local Law and Conditions of Registration. It outlines the occupant’s obligations in general terms, and provides a consistent approach and expectation around how occupants and their guests should behave.

This idea was advertised during the City’s Holiday Home consultation in 2021, receiving a high level of support - the peace and comfort of the local community is considered to be of equal importance to that of Holiday Home visitors.

The City met with four of the largest local management agencies to further discuss the idea. These managers, who are collectively responsible for approximately one third of all registered Holiday Homes in the District, have house rules already in place. All were supportive of the idea, commenting that the Code of Conduct would complement their own house rules.

No, this isn’t true. The Conditions of Registration address this in three different clauses:

1. The conditions specify the maximum number of occupants who may be at the Holiday Home at any time – an “occupant” is defined in the City’s Holiday Home Local Law as a person who is “accommodated”.
2. The conditions specify that the number of occupants and their guests who may be at the Holiday Home after 10pm is no more than the maximum number of occupants – a “guest” is defined in the City’s Holiday Home Local Law as a person who is at the Holiday Home for “social purposes” at the invitation of the occupant.
3. The conditions require that any advertisement for the Holiday Home must specify the maximum number of occupants and guests permitted at any given time.

Many complaints about Holiday Homes occur because neighbours and community members do not know who to contact when issues arise.

When the City investigated potential changes to improve the management of Holiday Homes, it was found that a number of local governments in WA and Australia more broadly require a sign, visible from the street, that displays contact details for the person managing the Holiday Home.

This idea was advertised during the City’s Holiday Home consultation in 2021, receiving a high level of support.

The City met with four of the largest local management agencies to further discuss the idea – all have erected signs at the properties they manage, and all were supportive of this change. According to these managers, who are collectively responsible for one third of all registered Holiday Homes in the District, they have never experienced security risks (break-ins) as a result of signage. If anything, it provides a form of advertising and brings more business. They did however mention that they receive a large volume of phone calls about properties that they don’t manage, and welcomed the prospect that calls would be directed to the appropriate person.

The requirement for all Holiday Homes to display the Manager’s details will result in a consistent approach in the District and broader Margaret River/Busselton tourism region.

The City understands that many families like to travel with pets. However some dogs are left on their own at the Holiday Home, being a place that they are unfamiliar with, and they can become distressed. Some bark or howl for long periods of time and this is often very upsetting for the neighbours who live permanently in the area.

This is one of the most frequent complaints received by the City, in relation to Holiday Homes. Due to the high turnover of visitors to a Holiday Home, and the fact that the visiting dogs are generally not registered to the property owner, the City is not able to work with owners and neighbours, as we normally would, to try and resolve the issue.

This idea was advertised during the City’s Holiday Home consultation in 2021, receiving a high level of support - the peace and comfort of the local community is considered to be of equal importance to that of visitors and their pets.

The City met with four of the largest local management agencies to further discuss the idea. These managers, who are collectively responsible for one third of all registered Holiday Homes in the District, have restrictions around dogs already. All were supportive of the idea.

A number of different ‘opportunities for change’ were advertised during the 2021 consultation, although it is important to note that not all of these potential changes will be pursued by Council. The minutes of Council meetings document the full review process to date, and are freely available to the public. It is possible that the media or others have picked up on potential changes without being completely aware of what is/isn’t going to be implemented, and how, why and when.

The relevant Council meeting minutes are located here, although note that the revised Conditions of Registration and Code of Conduct were (at that time) in draft format. Both have had further, minor revisions and will be distributed with the annual registration renewal notices.