Can I short-term rent in Shire of Augusta-Margaret River?

Restricted

Short-term rental is allowed but unhosted "Holiday Houses" need Shire planning approval on top of the mandatory WA state STRA registration, and are only permitted in defined coastal settlements (Gracetown, Prevelly, Gnarabup, Augusta, Molloy Island), a mapped Margaret River town-centre precinct, within 50m of a village centre, or on lots over 1ha elsewhere, inland residential subdivisions are off-limits. Hosted STRA (owner living on site) no longer needs Shire planning approval since the state's 2024 STRA reforms, but still needs state registration; approvals for unhosted houses run 1 year initially, extendable to 3 then 5 years if complaint-free, and the property is re-rated into the Commercial/Tourism rate category.

Last verified 2026-07-24 against official sources. Every fact below links to where it comes from.

The rules, fact by fact

Rule	What applies	Applies to	Since	Source
Registration	Shire planning approval is required in addition to, not instead of, the mandatory WA state STRA Register. Alongside any Shire planning approval, all short-term accommodation in the Shire (hosted and unhosted) must separately register on the state's Short-Term Rental Accommodation Register from 1 January 2025, with registrations valid for 1 year and renewable every 12 months (state fees apply), confirmed verbatim in the Shire's PS17 information sheet, including the exact 1 January 2025 date. This is the state-level requirement layered on top of, not replacing, the Shire's own local planning approval and rates processes documented above.	Hosted & non-hosted	2025-01-01	Council
Planning approval	Unhosted Holiday Houses need Shire development approval, confined to coastal settlements or specific inland precincts. Under Local Planning Policy 7 (LPP7, HH1) and Clause 5.26 of Local Planning Scheme No.1, an Unhosted STRA ("Holiday House") must be located in a defined "Coastal Settlement" (Gracetown, Prevelly, Gnarabup, Augusta townsites, Molloy Island, plus land zoned Leeuwin Naturaliste Ridge Landscape Amenity/Conservation or Southern Ocean Foreshore Protection), OR within the mapped "permitted area" of the Margaret River town centre (Policy Plan 1), OR within 50m of a Village Centre zone in other inland settlements, OR on a property of at least 1ha outside those permitted areas. Grouped-dwelling Holiday Houses are only permitted at density R30/40 or lower (HH2), and the 24-hour manager contact details must be visible from the nearest street frontage (HH3). Single-bedroom dwellings and ancillary dwellings cannot be used for unhosted STRA (SB1, AD1). Hosted STRA (owner resides on site) no longer requires this planning approval, following the state's 2024 STRA reforms, confirmed by LPP7's Bed & Breakfast clauses (which required the owner/occupier to reside on site) being marked superseded by the Planning and Development (Local Planning Schemes) Amendment (Short-Term Rental Accommodation Regulations) 2024. Exceptions: Hosted STRA (owner on-site) exempt from Shire planning approval since 2024 state reforms; using your own dwelling for unpaid stays by family/friends never needs approval.	Non-hosted	2018-09-12	Council
Planning approval	Holiday House planning approvals are initially 1 year, extendable to 3 years then 5-year renewals if complaint-free. Per LPP7 section 6 ("Planning Mechanisms"), development approval for a Holiday House is initially granted for a 1-year period unless the Shire determines otherwise. Where complaints or verified amenity/non-compliance issues exist, renewal is unlikely to be granted. Where the Shire is satisfied the use has been appropriately managed, a renewal of up to 3 years may be granted, followed by 5-year approval periods for subsequent renewals. LPP7 also confirms renewal applications under earlier policy versions are still considered even if the current locational criteria (HH1-3) can't be met. The Shire's separate application checklist confirms renewal applicants may request Council consider a 3- or 5-year term in their covering letter.	Non-hosted	2018-09-12	Council
Fire safety	New and some renewal applications must include a Bushfire Emergency Evacuation Plan; LPP7's own BAL/bushfire clauses are now superseded by the 2024 state amendment. The Shire's October 2024 Holiday House application checklist requires a Bushfire Emergency Evacuation Plan for all new applications (renewals only if the plan format is outdated or needs updating), confirmed verbatim in the checklist PDF. LPP7's own bushfire clauses (GF1-GF3), which required a Bushfire Attack Level assessment/Bushfire Management Plan for sites in Bushfire Prone Areas, referral to DFES, and stated BAL-40/Flame Zone (FZ) rated sites were unlikely to be approved, are marked in the current LPP7 document itself as "Superseded by the Planning and Development (Local Planning Schemes) Amendment (Short-Term Rental Accommodation Regulations) 2024", meaning bushfire assessment for STRA is now primarily governed by that 2024 state amendment rather than the Shire's own BAL-40/FZ refusal threshold.	Non-hosted	2024-10-01	Council
Code of conduct	Off-site managers must be within a 35-minute drive, house rules are mandatory, and amplified outdoor music is restricted to 10am-10pm. LPP7 requires every Holiday House proposal to include a management plan and a set of House Rules (GM1); where management is off-site, a manager or contactable employee must permanently reside no more than a 35-minute drive from the site, confirmed verbatim, and independently corroborated by the Shire's application checklist, which requires contact details/location of a manager residing within a 35-minute drive. The 24-hour contact details of the manager must be displayed on the property, visible from the nearest street frontage (HH3; confirmed by a photo of the sign at renewal per the checklist). Amplified music may only be played outdoors between 10am and 10pm (GM2), confirmed verbatim. Single-bedroom dwellings and ancillary dwellings may not be used for unhosted STRA (SB1, AD1), confirmed verbatim.	Non-hosted	2018-09-12	Council
Council rates	Approved unhosted Holiday Houses are moved from Residential into the Commercial, Industrial and Tourism differential rate category. The Shire's application checklist warns that changing a dwelling to Holiday House (Unhosted Accommodation) use "will increase your rates as the property will be rated for commercial purposes", confirmed verbatim. The 2026-27 Commercial, Industrial and Tourism differential rate (which covers hotels, motels, holiday parks and unhosted holiday homes) is $0.128959 in the dollar of Gross Rental Value with a minimum payment of $1,853, both figures confirmed directly against the Shire's live rates FAQ page. Prior to the state's 2024 STRA reforms, hosted STRA also required planning approval and was rated Tourism; once hosted STRA lost the approval trigger it reverted to Residential rating. The Shire's rates FAQ confirms a live proposal (for the 2026-27 rating year) to bring hosted STRA properties into the Commercial, Industrial and Tourism category, using the state STRA Register to identify eligible properties, on the rationale that hosted STRA "create[s] additional demand on local infrastructure and services", the FAQ page frames this explicitly as a proposal under consideration, not yet confirmed adopted, so it should be re-checked before being treated as settled. Exceptions: Hosted STRA currently remains in the Residential rate category unless/until the proposed 2026-27 expansion is adopted. ⚠ Our confidence in this fact is medium. Confirm with the source before relying on it.	Hosted & non-hosted	n/a	Council
Other rules	Bedroom occupancy is capped at 2 guests per bedroom for unhosted Holiday Houses. LPP7 clause GD6 requires each bedroom of an approved Holiday House to accommodate a maximum of two persons (a "person" for occupancy purposes is a guest over two years old) at any one time, the effective total guest cap therefore scales with the approved bedroom count rather than being a single fixed shire-wide number. This clause was directly confirmed verbatim in the source PDF. One parking bay per bedroom must also be provided, plus bays for residents/staff (2 bays accepted for grouped dwellings, with guest numbers limited accordingly, GD1). Separately, the Shire's public STRA webpage is reported to state unhosted STRA can accommodate 'up to 12 guests per night maximum' as a general figure, this could not be corroborated as a standalone shire rule distinct from the per-bedroom formula (that specific webpage was not fetched during this verification pass) and remains flagged as medium confidence / unresolved. ⚠ Our confidence in this fact is medium. Confirm with the source before relying on it.	Non-hosted	2018-09-12	Council
Other rules	Wastewater and water supply capacity must be demonstrated for guest numbers on non-reticulated properties. Where a Holiday House property is not on reticulated (deep) sewer, the applicant must demonstrate the existing on-site wastewater management system can cope with the proposed number of guests, confirmed verbatim in the PS17 information sheet, which flags this as particularly relevant in Prevelly and Gracetown where wastewater is managed on-site. Applicants must also demonstrate safe drinking water availability where the property is not connected to reticulated water; LPP7 (GD2) separately specifies a minimum 120,000-litre rainwater tank with firefighting provision as an alternative to reticulated supply.	Non-hosted	2024-10-01	Council

Fees

Holiday House planning application / advertising fee (new): Set annually via Council's adopted Fees and Charges Schedule (not a fixed published figure in the policy documents); applicant is invoiced after the application is assessed as complete source
Holiday House renewal planning/advertising fee: Set annually via Council's adopted Fees and Charges Schedule (not a fixed published figure in the policy documents) source
Commercial, Industrial and Tourism differential rate (2026-27, applies to unhosted holiday homes): $0.128959 in the dollar of Gross Rental Value, minimum payment $1,853 source

What's changed in Shire of Augusta-Margaret River

2026-07-01 CORRECTED DATE (was 2026-01-01): proposal under discussion, to potentially take effect from the start of the 2026-27 rating year (1 July 2026), to expand the Commercial, Industrial and Tourism differential rate category to include hosted STRA properties (currently rated Residential since the 2024 reforms), using the state STRA Register to identify them. Confirmed via direct fetch of the Shire's rates FAQ page that this is described as a proposal under consideration, not confirmed as adopted at time of writing. source
2025-01-01 WA state Short-Term Rental Accommodation Register became mandatory for all STRA (hosted and unhosted) in the Shire, layered on top of the Shire's own planning-approval process for unhosted Holiday Houses. Date and scope confirmed verbatim. source
2024-10-01 Following the state's Planning and Development (Local Planning Schemes) Amendment (Short-Term Rental Accommodation Regulations) 2024, hosted STRA lost its Shire planning-approval trigger (and reverted to Residential rating), and LPP7's Bed & Breakfast, ancillary-dwelling, and bushfire (GF1-GF3) clauses were marked as superseded by the state amendment; the Shire reissued its PS17 information sheet and application/renewal forms in October 2024 to reflect this alongside the incoming state STRA Register. Confirmed by direct fetch of both PDFs, both dated October 2024. source
2018-09-12 Local Planning Policy 7 (Short Stay Accommodation) reviewed and re-adopted by Council (v3.0), setting the current coastal-settlement/permitted-area/50m-village-centre/1ha locational criteria (HH1) and the 1-year-initial, up-to-3-year, then 5-year renewal structure for Holiday House approvals. Adoption date confirmed verbatim from the document's version-control table. source

Host checklist for Shire of Augusta-Margaret River

Shire planning approval is required in addition to, not instead of, the mandatory WA state STRA Register. official page
Unhosted Holiday Houses need Shire development approval, confined to coastal settlements or specific inland precincts. official page
Holiday House planning approvals are initially 1 year, extendable to 3 years then 5-year renewals if complaint-free. official page
New and some renewal applications must include a Bushfire Emergency Evacuation Plan; LPP7's own BAL/bushfire clauses are now superseded by the 2024 state amendment. official page
Confirm anything marked below high confidence directly with your council.

Common questions

Do I need council or planning approval to short-term rent in Shire of Augusta-Margaret River?

Unhosted Holiday Houses need Shire development approval, confined to coastal settlements or specific inland precincts. Exceptions: Hosted STRA (owner on-site) exempt from Shire planning approval since 2024 state reforms; using your own dwelling for unpaid stays by family/friends never needs approval.

What fire safety requirements apply to short-term rentals in Shire of Augusta-Margaret River?

New and some renewal applications must include a Bushfire Emergency Evacuation Plan; LPP7's own BAL/bushfire clauses are now superseded by the 2024 state amendment.

Do I need to register my short-term rental in Shire of Augusta-Margaret River?

Shire planning approval is required in addition to, not instead of, the mandatory WA state STRA Register.

Spotted something out of date? Rules change fast. That is the whole reason this site exists. Report an error and we will re-verify against the official source.