Digital platforms that offer short term rental accommodation (STRA) have transformed how tourists and visitors can access lodging, offering flexibility in timing and type of accommodation, while creating new income streams for property owners.

STRA refers to properties rented for short periods, typically through digital platforms. There are three main types:

• shared residence (hosted): a room within a host’s home
• primary residence (non-hosted): a whole property rented occasionally, usually less than 90 days per year, which might be while the host is away for short stints
• secondary residence (non-hosted): a whole property is rented and the property is primarily used for STRA, and often available year-round.

While hosted arrangements may have minimal impact, research is emerging that non-hosted STRA – especially in secondary homes – can significantly affect housing markets and neighbourhood dynamics and drain councils' resources through the of managing compliance.

The emergence of STRA has changed the nature and experience of tourism in communities, but not in the same way. Particularly influential are place-based characteristics particularly visitor economy and housing market dynamics, settlement location, neighbourhood structure, local governance and planning frameworks for tourism and urban development. Gurran et al. 2020 describes a typology that ranges from 'pop up tourism' to 'invasive tourism'.

Pop-up tourism

• Characteristics: Seasonal destinations with latent holiday homes that can be mobilized during peak events or festivals.
• Council example: Moyne (Port Fairy).
• Impacts: Supports tourism without major infrastructure investment; minimal neighborhood conflict but some housing pressure.

Resort tourism

• Characteristics: Areas with strong formal accommodation sectors (hotels, resorts) and established planning frameworks.
• Local government examples: Sunshine Coast, Douglas, Port Macquarie.
• Impacts: STRA diversifies accommodation options rather than dominating; few neighbor complaints.

Suburban tourism

• Characteristics: Urban fringe or suburban areas where large homes or granny flats are rented short-term.
• Local government example: Moreton Bay.
• Impacts: Occasional issues with “party houses” and safety risks; listings remain a small share of housing stock.

Second home tourism

• Characteristics: Regions with long-standing traditions of second homes and holiday rentals.
• Local government examples: Shoalhaven, Kiama, Bass Coast, Eurobodalla.
• Impacts: STRA amplifies existing patterns; rising housing costs and absentee management issues.

Invasive tourism

• Characteristics: High STRA density relative to housing stock; tourism dominates residential areas.
• Local government examples: Byron Bay, Mornington Peninsula.
• Impacts: Severe housing shortages, gentrification, neighborhood conflicts, displacement of local residents.

There has been a rapid growth of short-term rental accommodation as a disruptor of tourism accommodation. These platforms offer economic opportunities for property owners and options for flexible lodging for visitors, yet can also create significant challenges for some councils and communities.

STRA has changed the nature of residential and tourism land uses, e.g. older holiday apartments offering long-term leases; short-term let apartments located within residential units. These changes can create problems where holiday units are not designed for residential living and lead to conflicts between neighbours and tourists in residential buildings.

Communities can experience living with a transient population, noise from 'party houses' and a broader loss of social capital. Councils can struggle with planning, compliance and pressure on local infrastructure and traditional tourist accommodation (known as 'approved accommodation providers').

STRA can accelerate gentrification resulting in displacement of long-term residents and increase in transients that weakens local networks and place attachment.

A constant turnover of visitors in the neighbourhood that often have different values and weak ties to the community – including limited regard for 'neighbourliness', the local environment or community resources – tends to lower the everyday interactions that fosters mutual assistance, community connectedness and informal monitoring,

Rapid growth in STRA is credited with creating housing shortages, pushing up rents, and displacing locals. Growth in STRA listings can be associated with higher rents and house prices when landlords and investors reallocate dwellings to the more lucrative short-term market, reducing long-term rental supply.

Concurrent with the rise in STRA, a crunch in local housing availability may be exacerbated by other events. The COVID-19 pandemic – including through new opportunities for remote working and changing patterns in travel due to border closures – drove a sudden population shift to regional areas that was not matched by housing supply.

This was further exacerbated in some areas affected by extreme events. The 2019-2020 Black Summer bushfires, followed by the 2022 NSW-Qld floods, resulted in around 5000 houses being destroyed or badly damaged and so removed from the available housing pool.

STRA increases pressure on local infrastructure such as roads, water supply, waste management, and emergency services. Communities may not be designed to accommodate the fluctuating and often high volumes of visitors that STRA can attract, leading to congestion, strain on public utilities, and higher maintenance costs for local councils.

This style of tourism accommodation booking platform can also undermine traditional accommodation providers, such as hotels, motels, guest houses and caravan parks. Traditional businesses are required to comply with safety, zoning and taxation regulations, while STRA has been able to operate outside these frameworks – although state and local governments are trying to catch this up.

STRA can present regulatory challenges for local governments that may struggle with capacity and resources to balance tourism, housing, as well as compliance and enforcement.

These platforms operate as booking services - an intermediary not property manager - which can limit or avoid their responsibility for compliance with planning, safety, and zoning laws. Increasingly states are trying to address this by introducing obligations to register properties, verify permits and share data (e.g., WA and NSW).

This lack of platform accountability shifts the burden of enforcement to local governments, which often lack access to accurate, real-time data on property addresses, booking frequency, and occupancy patterns. This lack of data makes it hard for councils to monitor compliance with caps, safety standards, and local planning rules.

In a changing climate, STRA can be an additional stressor for communities and for local governments.

STRA can disrupt community cohesion, a key attribute of climate resilience. Strong community networks help communities to share resources, coordinate emergency responses and recover from disasters. These networks can be disrupted by the displacement of long term residents and eroding neighbourhood social capital through loss of neighbours and the informal safety nets of mutual assistance.

STRA can also hamper climate adaptation efforts through adding to housing shortages, pushing up rental costs and housing prices. The resources required to manage compliance can also drain council resources.

Australia does not have a national regulatory approach to STRA. Despite experiencing similar challenges, states have taken different responses that broadly include:

• registration / mandatory data
• caps or night-limits
• local laws to manage behaviour
• state levies to fund housing
• planning reforms to clarify when STRAs require approval.

A number of councils around the coast have tried various strategies to manage STRA. Below are two examples and both show that housing policy and STRA regulation can affect a community’s ability to adapt to climate risks. Flexible housing systems and strong social cohesion are vital for community resilience.