NSW’s STRA rules apply to every short-term rental property in the state, whether it’s listed on Airbnb, Booking.com, or direct. Most compliance gaps we see aren’t the result of owners ignoring the rules — they’re the result of a requirement getting set up once and then never revisited. Here’s a practical checklist to confirm where your property actually stands.
1. Is the Property Registered on the NSW STRA Register?
Every STRA property must be registered with the NSW Government’s STRA Register, at a cost of $65 initially and $25 for annual renewal. The registration itself is straightforward — the part owners commonly miss is the annual renewal, which lapses quietly if it’s not tracked against a calendar.
2. Do You Know Whether Your Property Is Hosted or Non-Hosted?
NSW treats hosted STRA (where the host lives on-site) differently from non-hosted STRA (an entire property let while the host is elsewhere). Non-hosted properties are subject to an annual night cap — typically up to 180 nights in Greater Sydney, with some high-demand council areas like Byron Shire enforcing stricter limits. Bookings of 21 consecutive nights or more are exempt from the cap. If you don’t know which category your property falls into, that’s the first thing to confirm, since it determines what else on this list actually applies to you.
3. Are You Tracking Nights Let Against Your Cap?
If your property is non-hosted and subject to a night cap, the obligation isn’t just knowing the number — it’s tracking cumulative nights let across the calendar year. This is the single most common compliance gap we see when taking on a newly self-managed property: owners aware of the cap in principle, but with no system actually tracking bookings against it.
4. Have You Checked Your Local Council’s Additional Requirements?
STRA Register compliance is a state-level requirement, but individual councils can layer additional planning controls on top — parking conditions, noise provisions, or in some tourist-heavy areas, stricter night caps than the state default. A property in the Tweed Shire can have different obligations to one in Sydney or Byron Shire, even though both sit under the same state scheme. It’s worth confirming directly with your local council rather than assuming state registration covers everything.
5. Does Your Property Meet Fire Safety Standards?
STRA properties must meet mandatory minimum fire safety standards, including evacuation diagrams, working smoke alarms, and appropriate fire extinguishers or fire blankets. This isn’t a one-off installation — smoke alarm batteries need checking, evacuation diagrams need to stay current and visible, and extinguishers need periodic servicing.
6. Is Your Insurance Actually Written for Short-Term Letting?
Standard home and contents insurance is generally not designed for STRA use and can leave gaps in cover for guest-related incidents or liability claims. A landlord or short-term rental-specific policy is the safer option — worth confirming directly with your insurer rather than assuming an existing policy extends to cover paying guests.
7. Are You Meeting the Code of Conduct’s Host Obligations?
Hosts are required to be contactable between 8:00am and 5:00pm for general issues, and reachable outside those hours for emergencies, and must inform neighbours of STRA activity at the property along with providing contact details. This is one of the more overlooked obligations, since it’s about ongoing accessibility rather than a document or certificate.
What Happens If You’re Not Compliant
Local councils enforce STRA compliance both proactively and in response to neighbour complaints. Gaps — an unregistered property, an exceeded night cap, or missing fire safety requirements — can result in formal notices, fines, or in repeated cases, restrictions on the property’s ability to operate as an STRA. None of these outcomes are common for owners actively managing compliance; they tend to happen when a requirement was set up once and quietly lapsed.
How UrbanStayz Manages This For Owners
Every property we manage goes through this exact checklist as an ongoing process, not a one-off setup: registration and renewal, documented night-cap tracking, fire safety checks, and a review of council-specific requirements for the property’s location. Full detail is on our STRA Compliance page, or see our Complete STRA Management service for how this fits into full property management.
Need a Compliance Check on Your Property?
Email bookings@urbanstayz.com or contact us here and we’ll review where your property currently stands.
