Can I short-term rent in Sunshine Coast Council?

Council's official Local Laws page lists only seven local laws in force (Local Law 1 Administration, 2 Animal Management, 3 Community Health and Environment Management, 4 Local Government Controlled Areas/Facilities/Infrastructure/Roads, 5 Parking, 6 Bathing Reserves, 7 Sunshine Coast Airport), none of which is a short-term-accommodation or short-stay law. Directly re-verified by fetching council's Local Laws page and confirming exactly these seven laws with no STR-related entry. This differs from the neighbouring, separate Noosa Shire Council, which reportedly has operated its own dedicated Short-Stay Local Law since 2022 requiring a nominated 24-hour contact person able to respond to complaints within 30 minutes and a displayed hotline number, those specific details about Noosa's law were not independently re-fetched from a Noosa Shire Council source this session and should be treated as carried over from prior research pending confirmation. That Noosa-specific regime does not apply within the Sunshine Coast Regional Council boundary.

Under the operative Sunshine Coast Planning Scheme 2014, no night-cap or occurrence-cap applies to hosted or non-hosted short-term accommodation, the assessment tables gate the use by development-approval category only, not by nights let. The proposed (unadopted) new planning scheme would introduce a self-assessable 'occasional principal place of residence letting' category, defined as short-term letting of the applicant's own principal place of residence, capped at no more than 4 occurrences and no more than 60 nights in any calendar year, generally proposed not to require development approval if those thresholds are met (subject to specific criteria). Directly verified by fetching council's Short-term Accommodation Information Sheet, which states this definition and cap verbatim. This proposed cap applies only to hosted letting of an owner's principal residence and is not a general non-hosted cap.

Exceptions: Proposed cap (not yet in force) would apply only to hosted letting of the operator's own principal place of residence, not to non-hosted holiday houses.

Table 5.5.1 (Low Density Residential zone, amended 3 July 2017) of the Sunshine Coast Planning Scheme 2014 has no 'Short-term accommodation' row, only 'Dwelling house' (accepted development) and 'Dwelling unit' (code assessment) are listed under residential activities. Because short-term accommodation isn't a specifically listed use in this zone, it falls to the table's catch-all 'All other uses defined in Schedule 1' line, which is impact assessment, a full development application requiring public notification. Dwellings lawfully used for short-term letting before the 2014 scheme commenced may hold existing use rights that avoid this trigger; council's planning team advises on a case-by-case basis whether such rights apply. Directly verified by fetching the source document and confirming this exact table content, including the Dwelling house/Dwelling unit rows and the 'All other uses ... Impact assessment' catch-all.

Exceptions: Dwellings with pre-2014 existing use rights for short-term letting are not subject to this impact-assessment trigger.

The Tables of Assessment reviewed (Low, Medium and High Density Residential, and Tourist Accommodation zones) use a single 'Short-term accommodation' defined use with no separate treatment for whether a host is present. Council's proposed new planning scheme (not yet adopted, public consultation ran 15 July to 19 September 2025) would introduce a hosted/non-hosted split for the first time: 'occasional principal place of residence letting' and 'home-hosted accommodation' (hosted) versus 'non-hosted holiday house' (non-hosted), each with different assessment pathways. Directly verified by fetching council's Short-term Accommodation Information Sheet, which defines all three terms exactly as described. None of this split is currently in force.

Table 5.5.2 (Medium Density Residential zone) of the Sunshine Coast Planning Scheme 2014, amended 3 July 2017, lists 'Short-term accommodation' as a defined use requiring code assessment, a development application assessed against codes, no public notification. Assessment benchmarks are the Medium Density Residential zone code, the applicable local plan code, the Multi-unit Residential Uses Code, and prescribed other development codes. 'Dwelling house' remains accepted development (no approval needed) in this zone, it is specifically the short-term-letting use that triggers the code-assessable process. Directly verified by fetching the source document, which was confirmed to be Table 5.5.2 with this exact content.

Table 5.5.3 (High Density Residential zone) of the Sunshine Coast Planning Scheme 2014, amended 3 July 2017, lists 'Short-term accommodation' as a defined use requiring code assessment, a development application assessed against codes, no public notification. Assessment benchmarks are the High Density Residential zone code, the applicable local plan code, the Multi-unit Residential Uses Code, and prescribed other development codes. 'Dwelling house' remains accepted development in this zone. Directly verified by fetching the source document, which was confirmed to be Table 5.5.3 with this exact content.

Table 5.5.4 (Tourist Accommodation zone) of the Sunshine Coast Planning Scheme 2014, amended 28 January 2020, lists 'Short-term accommodation' as a defined use requiring code assessment, a development application assessed against codes, no public notification. Assessment benchmarks are the Tourist Accommodation zone code, the applicable local plan code, the Multi-unit Residential Uses Code, and prescribed other development codes. 'Dwelling house' remains accepted development in this zone. Directly verified by fetching the source document, which was confirmed to be Table 5.5.4 with this exact content.

The Planning Act 2016 separately defines a 'party house' as a dwelling used for a fee as accommodation for parties (e.g. bucks/hens events, raves, wedding receptions) for under 10 days where the owner is not onsite. Sunshine Coast Council's proposed new planning scheme would 'opt in' to the Act's party house provisions across the entire local government area, meaning any existing or new party house would require an impact-assessable development application with public notification before Council could approve its operation. Directly verified by fetching council's Short-term Accommodation Information Sheet, which states this proposal verbatim. As at 24 July 2026 this opt-in has not occurred under the current operative 2014 scheme, it is a proposed, unadopted change.