The future of Airbnb in Perth is up in the air after a Perth host lost his legal fight to be allowed to let his Rivervale apartment to short-term tenants using the popular accommodation platform.
The Court of Appeal, on Thursday, dismissed Ceresa River apartment owner James Byrne's case he should be entitled to sub-lease his home to visitors, sometimes for just days at a time.
However, the court upheld the Supreme Court of WA's original decision from May 2016 that his apartment strata had a by-law which prohibited letting an apartment for the purpose of short term stays.
Strata Community Australia WA president Scott Bellerby said many apartment complexes in Perth had similar by-laws which encouraged residential tenants over short-stay visitors.
"This case is being used to provide direction to the strata industry on a matter that is becoming more and more prevalent as short-stay letting increases in and around Perth," he said.
"There's no doubt that short-stay letting in residential buildings creates a high degree of angst for those who call the complex home.
"The dismissal of this appeal, at least for now, provides some confidence to owners that the implementation of appropriate by-laws can help them to effectively manage this issue."
He said if a property owner within a strata wanted to engage in Airbnb or similar short-term stay accommodation, they would likely have to apply to introduce a short-stay clause into the building's by-laws.
