Urban Approval Group
Urban Approval Group
Airbnb / short-term rental registration experts
Short-term rental reforms mean many unhosted properties now require development approval from their local council — on top of state registration. We confirm whether approval applies to your property, prepare your management plan, and lodge the application on your behalf.
What "operating without approval" actually looks like in practice.
Illustrative example — South West Western Australia
A host in Busselton had three properties operating for eight months before realising approval was required from night one — there is no 90-night exemption in the South West the way there is in Perth metro.
We prepared retrospective applications and management plans for all three. Two were approved within nine weeks. The third took an extra three weeks after the council requested additional information on parking arrangements.
The host paid a retrospective penalty fee — three times the standard lodgement cost — but kept all three properties operating throughout because the applications were lodged before any compliance notice was issued.
Read what happens if councils catch you operating without approval →
Registration alone is not enough.
Councils now receive daily booking data from Airbnb, Stayz and Booking.com — which means they know exactly who is operating, at what address, and for how many nights.
What's changed and what it means
- From 1 January 2026, properties that require a development approval must provide their DA number to the state register — without it, your registration is cancelled, you must stop taking bookings, and continuing to advertise or operate carries fines of up to $20,000 for individuals and $100,000 for corporations.
- Unhosted STRA properties in the Perth metropolitan area require development approval if operated for more than 90 nights in a 12-month period.
- The state register tracks your bookings automatically — you are notified at 80 nights and again at 90 nights.
- Hosted STRA — where you live on the property during guest stays — is exempt from development approval state-wide, but still requires state registration.
- Outside the Perth metro area, local councils set their own rules — in some areas approval is required from the very first night regardless of how many nights you operate.
Four steps, one form.
You answer questions about your property once. We handle the council-specific translation.
Tell us the address
We match it to the right local government area and pull the current zoning classification for short-term rental use — hosted and unhosted — straight from the gazetted scheme.
Answer the intake form
Parking, check-in times, who manages the property, house rules. The same questions a council planning officer will be checking for. We can create and provide this information for you if you don't have the answers.
We generate your management plan
Built in the exact shape your council expects — some want an 8-section narrative covering proposed use, noise, complaints, maintenance, security, and house rules; others (like Vincent) want a structured form with labelled fields for guest screening, eviction process, and minimum stay. Same intake, the right output either way.
We lodge it with council
Application form, site plan checklist, and management plan submitted the way your specific council requires — in person, by post, or via portal — and we track it through to determination.
Prefer to read first? Airbnb application process · Short-term accommodation register
The team behind your application.
A team of professionals — mainly Western Australia–based, with a few in Queensland — covering planning, property management and software.
Planning
Senior urban planners
Lead the assessment of each application — reading the zoning, anticipating what a council assessor will flag, and shaping the management plan to the standard each authority actually expects.
Operations
Property management background
Bring direct experience of how short-term rentals actually operate day to day — informing management plans that reflect real operating conditions, not just a generic template.
Systems
Software engineering
Built the tools that track every application through to determination, match each property to the right council requirements, and keep clients updated without anything slipping.
Flat fee. No surprise add-ons mid-application.
Council lodgement fees are separate and paid directly to council — we'll tell you the exact number before you commit to anything.
- ✓ Council and zone identified
- ✓ Approval pathway explained
- ✓ Night threshold check
- ✓ Estimated timeframe and fees
- ✓ Everything in Free consultation
- ✓ Full 8-section management plan, generated
- ✓ Council application form prepared
- ✓ Lodged on your behalf
- ✓ Tracked through to determination
- ✓ Everything in Plan & lodge
- ✓ Multi-property dashboard
- ✓ Priority lodgement tracking
- ✓ Dedicated contact
A few things people usually ask first.
Hosted stays — where you are present on the property during the guest's visit — are exempt from development approval across Western Australia. Registration is still required, but no council application is needed.
For unhosted properties, Perth metro councils require a development approval if you rent for more than 90 nights per year. In regional areas like Busselton and Augusta-Margaret River, approval is required regardless of night count.
The January 2026 deadline has passed. Without the required approval, your registration is at risk — and platforms including Airbnb and Stayz must remove unregistered listings. Read the full timeline or check your council's requirements.
We also identify risk factors during the free consultation before you pay anything. If approval looks unlikely, we will tell you upfront.
We work across Perth metro and regional councils and keep current working knowledge of what each expects: preferred formats, required documents, typical timeframes, and known pressure points. Provide your address and we can tell you immediately which rules apply.
If your situation requires legal interpretation, we will refer you to qualified independent counsel. For the application itself, we handle everything.
Once you submit your details, we will confirm what is needed and let you know what we can produce on your behalf.
Get your free consultation.
Submit your property details and we will confirm whether development approval applies, what your council requires, the associated costs, and expected timeframe — before you pay us anything.
Start my application →