Short-Term Rental Accommodation Register - Frequently asked questions

The STRA Register has been implemented to gather information on the STRA sector in Western Australia (WA). This information is needed to ensure that we have a clear, information based, picture of the sector to enable data driven decision-making. Providing the WA government with more information on the STRA sector will allow for more informed policy and regulatory responses to be made.

If you have a residential premises that you rent out for periods of less than 3 months, whether you live at that premises or not, and whether you need development approval from your local government area or not, the premises are required to be registered with the State government as a Short-Term Rental Accommodation (STRA) premises.

The STRA Register is available now for registrations. Registration of STRA premises will become mandatory from 1 January 2025.

If you don’t register your STRA you will not be able to advertise or take bookings for the premises from 1 January 2025. If you are found to be operating STRA without registration you, as the accommodation provider, will be liable for significant penalties.

STRA properties are either hosted – where the host lives onsite, or unhosted – where guests have exclusive use of an entire house, unit or apartment.

You can rent your premises for as many nights as you wish provided you have met all legislative requirements. This includes the planning requirements of your local government area. If your premises is in the Perth Metro area, you do not need to have development approval unless you are renting for more than 90 nights. Outside the Perth Metro area, it is up to your Local Government whether you need development approval from day 1. Hosted STRA is exempt from requiring planning approval within Western Australia.

The owner or tenant must commence the registration. At a minimum, you will need to enter the STRA name, STRA Address and assign the property management company then select “Save & Continue” before closing the register. The property manager will then be able to pick up the registration and complete it on your behalf.

Your registration will expire 12 months after the STRA registration is completed. You will receive various reminders, leading up to the expiration of your registration, that your registration will be due for renewal.

Yes, traditional Bed and Breakfasts are now considered to be STRA. If the owner/manager lives onsite it will be considered hosted STRA, if they live elsewhere and come in to provide services it will be considered unhosted STRA.

The public will be able to check whether a particular premises is registered as STRA. They will also be able to confirm that a registration number is valid. They will not be able to see details about the premises or see contact details for the owner or manager of the premises. There will also be a heat map available to give the public an understanding of how many STRA there are in a particular area.

Development approval, (also known as Planning Approval) is issued by the planning authority (usually your local government) and gives permission for development to occur on a particular piece of land. Development approval can be required for building works or when changing the use of a site.

The development approval process allows local governments to assess a proposal in more detail to determine whether it is appropriate for a location and may also include consultation with neighbouring landowners. You are encouraged to contact your local government to seek information on requirements that are relevant to your premises.

You may register your property without development approval and where applicable, you must update the register with your development approval number once granted. When completing registration, you will need to enter the status of your development approval, this includes whether an application has been approved (including the DA approval number), submitted, refused, not obtained, or permitted (if the premises is in a zone that permits STRA).

When deciding to operate a STRA, you must comply with all existing local planning laws, which may include needing development approval. You should contact your local government to determine any approval requirements that currently exist or may be introduced in your area. Failure to obtain development approval where it is required may result in cancellation or suspension of your registration.

Where STRA is not exempt, development approval will be required from the applicable local government.

If your STRA premises is in the metropolitan area, under the metro-exemption period, up to 90 nights can be booked in a 12-month period with no development approval required. If you have over 90 nights booked or intend to lease the premises for more than 90 nights in the registration year, then you will require development approval.

An exemption from the requirement to obtain development approval applies within the Perth metropolitan area where unhosted STRA is leased for 90 nights or less (non-consecutive) within a 12-month period, as per the date of registration.

The 90-night exemption caters for property owners who wish to let out their primary residence for unhosted STRA on a temporary basis (such as when on holidays, for example) without needing development (planning) approval, however registration is still required. The exemption is monitored through booking events collected as part of the STRA Register. 

The STRA Register will capture the number of nights a registered premises is booked for STRA.

If the premises is advertised on a booking platform (e.g. Airbnb, Stayz/Vrbo and Booking.com) the STRA Register will obtain information from these platforms to automatically populate the bookings taken for the premises.

Where you or your property manager manage bookings independently, booking arrangement information will need to be entered manually into the STRA Register for each booking.

The STRA Register will also monitor compliance with the Metro-Exemption period and send reminders for applicable premises when you reach 80 and 90 nights booked.

The STRA Register only collects data or requires information from booking transactions made by a guest. Periods when the property is blocked out by an owner for private use are not counted towards nights booked.

The intent of the register is to gather information only. If the requested information is provided the STRA will be registered. The information gathered will be provided to regulatory authorities (including local government areas) to assist with appropriate regulation and monitoring of their legislation.

Hosted STRA includes ancillary dwellings, or 'granny flats', where the host lives in the primary house on the property. A host may alternatively live in the ancillary dwelling, with the primary house being rented out as STRA.

If both the primary house and ancillary dwelling on the same lot are used for STRA then these would be considered unhosted STRA and both properties would be required to be registered separately.

From 1 January 2025, the premises must be registered with the STRA Register to advertise or take bookings. Once registration is completed, you will receive a STRA Registration number.

The STRA Registration number must be displayed in a conspicuous (readily visible) manner on the advertisement for the STRA premises.

The STRA Registration number must be the correct registration number for the residential premises being advertised.

Penalties apply for prohibited advertisements that do not meet the above criteria.

Yes, an apartment or townhouse etc that is part of a Strata or Community Title scheme can be used as STRA unless a by-law prohibits STRA.

If your STRA property is part of a Strata or Community Titles scheme, you will need to check that the scheme by-laws do not prohibit STRA.

If your Strata or Community Titles Scheme has a by-law that prohibits STRA from being operated from the premises, then you may risk cancellation or suspension of your registration by contravening this by-law.

The registration requirement under the STRA Act applies to premises used for stays of less than 3 months in total, in a 12-month period. If your guest stays for more than 3 months, they may be subject to requirements of the Residential Tenancies Act 1987 (WA)(link is external) if the stay is not for a holiday. It is recommended that advice is sought on the requirements that apply to your own arrangement.

This is the nickname of the STRA premises.

Any individual who needs to access the STRA Register. This could be an owner, an individual property manager, a representative of a business or an employee of an LGA.

A Business user may be a representative of a business/trust/company that owns a property they need to register or a property manager accessing the STRA Register on behalf of a business/trust/company.

An Individual user may be a member of the public who owns a STRA property they need to register.

If you are a Tenant in a property and your Residential Tenancy agreement does not prohibit STRA, you may be able to rent out the property (or part of the property) as STRA as a subletting arrangement. For example, you may offer the premises as STRA whilst you are away on holiday or offer a room in the premises for short-stay. It is recommended that you discuss the sub-letting arrangement with your landlord or property manager before operating STRA from the rented premises. You would be required to register the premises for this type of STRA arrangement.