Owners' corporations in Canberra's inner south are moving to stop the lucrative practice of short-term rentals, with concerns about noise and possible connections to theft from secure areas.
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The decisions by two body corporates in Barton to ban rentals of less than 30 days comes as an inner northside mother reveals she has spent more than $2000 on soundproofing her apartment to protect her autistic son from rowdy transient neighbours.
Meanwhile, a body corporate in four-storey Kingston Place has called on the ACT government to investigate alleged breaches of zoning laws – and claimed risks to property – through the repeated renting out of at least one apartment.
"The integrity of our security [is] completely ruined by people who come in for 24 hours, who pass keys around, and have no investment in the bricks and mortar," a long-term resident said.
"We’ve had significant thefts from our basement car park ... mountain bikes, racing bikes, golf clubs."
The resident said she understood there had been nine thefts in the last two months, and one person had lost an $8000 pushbike taken from the secure-access basement.
ACT Policing said it was investigating thefts from secure underground car parks at apartment complexes in at least eight suburbs across Canberra.
While "all avenues of enquiry" were being chased, police gave no indication that short-term residents were to blame.
Raine & Horne strata manager Michael Grady confirmed owners corporations for two apartment premises on Barton's Sydney Avenue had this year created rules to ban rentals of less than 30 days.
As the then Environment and Sustainable Development Directorate (now Environment and Planning) confirmed in a letter to Kingston Place owners in February, commercial accommodation units are already prohibited in the high-rise zone (RZ5) which covers the Kingston complex, home to more than 200 apartments, as well as all other residential (RZ1-RZ4) zones.
Commercial accommodation units are defined in the territory plan as a room or suite of rooms made available on a commercial basis for short-term accommodation. The issue - or at least enforcement - appears confused however, with new Planning Minister Mick Gentleman unable to provide any guidance on the application of the rules, with the directorate now investigating several complaints.
"It is likely that these outcomes will be determined in court," a spokeswoman for the minister said.
In May, Attorney-General Simon Corbell said it was legal for an apartment owner to rent their premises on a regular short-term basis, subject to Public Health Act considerations.
Liz Blakey lives in an apartment in New Acton East, and said she had spent more than $2300 on soundproofing doors and walls to avoid her adult son Daniel becoming agitated when short-term guests made too much noise.
"If there’s yelling or high-pitch noise he’ll get very distressed, he’ll say 'stop the noise' ... he has to go back to his bedroom and bunker up, which is really not fair," Ms Blakey said.
New Acton East is a mixed-use zone which – unlike the "residential" zones – does not forbid commercial accommodation units.
But a resident on the owners' corporation executive committee confirmed that a noise-related breach letter was sent last month to a company owning two apartments across the hall from Ms Blakey often used for short-term stays.
A spokesman for the company said it believed it was constrained from discussing executive committee processes publicly.
