2017-04-11 P&E Agenda Attachment 1 to Item 1 Housing Needs Assessment

There are generally no restrictions on self-contained accommodation being used for visitors or
residents in Noosa Shire, except in the few cases where tourist only developments are approved.
The current Noosa Planning Scheme provides for Type 1 Home Hosted Visitor Accommodation in
detached dwellings. This allows the use of premises for short term accommodation hosted by the
resident family within a detached house where there is no more than 6 guests accommodated in
no more than three rooms, and at least one bedroom excluded from use by the guests. This
includes bed and breakfast establishments.

Restriction of these types of accommodation would have severe implications for the availability of
visitor, student and affordable accommodation in Noosa Shire. HRIA considers that social reasons
for requiring Short Term Rental Accommodation may include work relocations, temporary stays
between home purchases, widows needing to share their house to continue to afford living in it
etc. It is also well known in Noosa Shire that there is an extensive student ‘home-stay’ population
living in Noosa, and particularly in Noosa Heads.

The main issue remains that current planning allows a mix of visitors and permanent residents in
the majority of resort accommodation, which has not always been built to provide a suitable
permanent residential environment. The shortage of smaller, affordable dwellings including
studio, one and two bedroom apartments has led to some residents seeking housing in such
accommodation. This has led to competition, and in some cases conflict. It has also created
difficulties where management rights have been sold in resort complexes and the holiday rental
pool has continued to decrease as a result of increasing permanent occupation.

It has additionally created difficulties in the conferencing market where the take-up of visitor
accommodation by residents has impacted on the supply of visitor accommodation and the
viability of conferencing. At peak times, visitor accommodation is often booked out, and this has
the potential to impact on Noosa Shire’s tourism economy.

In reverse, unoccupied dwellings used as holiday homes or holiday rentals could be said to
remove stock from the permanent residential market. Like short term rentals, holiday rentals can
be disruptive to residential amenity, particularly where they occur in semi-attached or attached
complexes. Council may wish to consider whether some future developments should be
earmarked as ‘resident only’, by applying a resident only condition of consent. Limited application
of this condition may provide benefit to some residents in terms of assuring them of residential
amenity.

It will be important to attempt to project future tourist/visitor accommodation needs taking such
considerations into account, in order as far as possible to cater for both appropriately and reduce
inappropriate mix.

4.2 Benchmarking Housing Suitability and Affordability
To understand the extent of the issues of housing choice, affordability and stress in the Noosa
Shire, indicators were developed and compared to other Local Government Areas with similar
demographic characteristics. Local Government Areas used in the comparison analysis were:

       Fraser Coast;
       Douglas Shire; and
       Gold Coast City.




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