Gold Coast Residents Reveal How Airbnb Caps Will Transform Housing Before 2032

Residents along the Gold Coast’s northern beaches have begun speaking out against draft rules that would limit short-term rentals to 60 days a year in residential streets, with the changes slated for council vote next month.

The timing coincides with a sharp rebound in visitor numbers and ongoing work on Olympic venues at Coomera and Robina, pushing housing demand higher while locals worry about losing long-term rental stock.

Street-level impacts in Surfers Paradise and Broadbeach

On Cavill Avenue in Surfers Paradise, a retired teacher who has lived in the same unit for 12 years said weekend party groups now occupy three of the six apartments on her floor. She described repeated noise complaints that council officers logged but rarely resolved before the next booking arrived. Two blocks away in Broadbeach, a nurse who works night shifts at Gold Coast University Hospital reported that her building’s body corporate has already banned stays under seven nights after repeated incidents of broken furniture and blocked driveways.

Both neighbourhoods sit inside the proposed regulated zone that stretches from Main Beach to Miami. The Gold Coast City Council’s planning documents list 4,872 active short-term rental registrations in those postcodes alone.

Numbers behind the tension

CoreLogic data released last week showed median weekly rents in Surfers Paradise rose to $785 in the June quarter, up 14 per cent from the same period in 2025. Local real-estate agents report vacancy rates below 1.8 per cent for properties under $600 a week, the lowest figure recorded since 2019. Council officers estimate the 60-day cap would return roughly 1,200 properties to the long-term market if enforced from January 2027.

Property owners who spoke at a public forum on Wednesday evening argued the limit would cut their income by more than half during the quieter months. One family that purchased a unit off Queen Street in Southport to offset rising mortgage costs said they would have to sell if the rule passes unchanged.

Submissions close on 22 July. Residents can lodge comments through the council’s online portal or attend the next ordinary meeting at 9 am on 29 July at the chambers in Bundall Road, where the planning committee is scheduled to vote on amendments.