In the Perth metro area, an unhosted short-stay let for more than 90 nights a year needs development approval from your local council. Let for 90 nights or fewer, it is exempt. Hosted stays (where you live on-site) are generally exempt. Either way, every property must be registered on the WA STRA Register. Outside metro Perth, your local planning scheme sets the rules.
This is the question I get asked more than any other, and the one owners most often get wrong. Registration and council approval are two different things, and being signed up for one does not cover you for the other. Here is the quick version.
The two-minute check
Answer three questions in order.
1. Are you hosted or unhosted?
If you live on-site and let a room or part of your home, you are hosted, and you are generally exempt from council development approval. You still must register. If guests have exclusive use of the whole property and you are not living there, you are unhosted, and question 2 applies.
2. How many nights a year will you let it?
In the Perth metro area, an unhosted property let for 90 nights or fewer (non-consecutive, measured over 12 months from registration) is exempt from development approval. Let it for more than 90 nights and you need development approval from your local council.
3. Where is the property?
The 90-night exemption applies to the Perth metropolitan area. Outside metro Perth, regional councils set their own thresholds through their local planning schemes, so check directly with your local government.
What this means in practice
Most dedicated investment properties are unhosted and let well beyond 90 nights a year, because that is what makes them profitable. So if you are running a property as a genuine short-stay business in metro Perth, assume you need council approval and plan for it. Applying takes time and usually a management plan, so start before you cross 90 nights, not after.
Here is the quick reference:
| Your situation (Perth metro) | Register? | Council approval? |
|---|---|---|
| Hosted (you live on-site) | Yes | Generally no |
| Unhosted, 90 nights/year or fewer | Yes | No (exempt) |
| Unhosted, more than 90 nights/year | Yes | Yes |
Don’t forget the two things everyone forgets
- Registration is always required. Since 1 January 2026, a property not on the WA STRA Register cannot be advertised or booked, regardless of how many nights you let. Fines for operating unregistered reach up to $20,000.
- Strata can override everything. If your property is in a strata scheme, the by-laws can restrict or ban short-stay letting no matter what the council allows. Check this first.
One more thing: the 90 nights are cumulative
A common misread is that “90 nights” means 90 nights in a row. It does not. The exemption counts the total nights let across a rolling 12-month period from your registration date, non-consecutive included. Ten separate weekends and a couple of school-holiday weeks add up faster than owners expect, so track your running total through the year rather than assuming you are under the line.
The bottom line
Hosted: register, generally no approval. Unhosted under 90 nights in metro Perth: register, no approval. Unhosted over 90 nights: register and get council approval. Outside metro Perth: check your local scheme. For the full walkthrough of registration, fees, planning and strata, read our WA STRA compliance guide, and if you would rather have it all handled for you, that is part of our short-stay property management service.
This is general information, not legal advice. Confirm your obligations with DLGIRS and your local council.