A host is a person who gives the right to occupy a residential premises covered by a short-term rental accommodation arrangement.
This means that, as the host is providing the premises, they have obligations under the Code of Conduct for the Short-term Rental Accommodation Industry.
Must act lawfully
Hosts must act lawfully and must not breach:
- the Code of Conduct
- criminal laws
- planning laws
- by-laws if the premises are in a strata or community land scheme.
Read more about managing short-term rental in strata on the by-laws in your strata scheme page.
Obligations to guests and others
The premises must be provided in a state consistent with how it is represented in advertisements or in communications with guests.
The host must hold insurance that covers their liability for third-party injuries and death on the premises and it must be valid for the occupancy period. Hosts should very carefully review the terms of the insurance they take out to ensure it meets this requirement. This should include consideration of the nature and extent of any exclusions to that coverage.
The host or their representative must be contactable between 8 am to 5 pm every day of the week to manage guests, the premises, neighbourhood complaints or any other issues related to the premises.
The host or their representative must be contactable for emergencies outside of 8 am to 5 pm every day.
Information to be provided to guests
A host must provide the following information:
- contact details for the host or their representative
- contact details for an emergency electrician and an emergency plumber
- contact details for emergency services (000)
- an electronic or hard copy of the Code of Conduct
- by-laws that apply to the premises, common or association property if the premises are within a strata scheme or community land scheme.
Obligations to neighbours
The host must take reasonable steps to ensure that guests comply with their obligations under the Code.
The host must provide the following information to the occupants of residential premises directly neighbouring the hosted premises and, if within a strata scheme or community land scheme, to the owners corporation or association:
- advice that the host is using the premises for short-term rental
- the contact details of the host or their representative.
A host contacted by the guests, neighbours, owners corporation or association about potential breaches of the Code must take reasonable steps in a timely manner to address any concerns raised.
Read more about the obligations of guests under the Code on our Guest obligations page.
Premises register
From 1 November 2021, most hosts must register their properties on the Department of Planning, Industry and Environment’s STRA premises register. Relevant properties must be registered before they can be advertised or offered for short-term rental. There are fees associated with registration.
More information about the STRA premises register is available on the Department of Planning, Industry and Environment’s website.
Exclusion register
A host must not offer premises for short-term rental if they have been listed on the Exclusion Register for hosting in general or offer a specific property for short term rentals if that property has been listed on the Exclusion Register.
If a host is listed on the Exclusion Register only in relation to a specific property, they are still able to list other properties for short term rental.
Hosts must not let a premises for short-term rental with a guest who has been listed on the Exclusion Register.
You will need to use the Public Exclusion Register on the NSW Fair Trading website to check whether any of your guests are excluded from the industry for the STRA arrangements you are involved in. Do this by selecting ‘guest’ as the search type and entering in the required and optional fields for the guest that you are checking.
Read more about the Exclusion Register, including accessing information on the public exclusion register to comply with your requirements under the Code.
Read more about the Exclusion Register.
General obligations
The Code of Conduct imposes some general obligations that apply to all industry participants including hosts.
Act honestly and in good faith
All participants must act honestly and in good faith as part of any short-term rental accommodation arrangement.
Participants must act honestly and in good faith in relation to any dealing, complaint or dispute that arises about a short-term rental accommodation arrangement.
Cooperation with NSW Fair Trading
All participants must cooperate with NSW Fair Trading in its enforcement and administration of the Code of Conduct.
This includes complying with directions issued by Fair Trading and with requests for information relating to their activities as an industry participant or under the Code.
The information collected by Fair Trading will be used to enforce the Code and to monitor, evaluate and inform further development of the regulatory framework.
Identity of participants excluded from the industry
Industry participants must not knowingly misrepresent the identity of any person or premises to avoid a provision of the Code because the person or premises is recorded on the Exclusion Register.
Read more about the Exclusion Register.