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Gold Coast Residents Share Views on Short-Term Rental Rules
Locals in tourist-heavy neighbourhoods describe daily pressures from unregulated Airbnb listings as the city council weighs tighter controls.
How we reported this
More than 180 submissions from Gold Coast households reached council chambers this week, each detailing how short-term rental properties have altered their streets since the start of 2025.
The volume of feedback arrives as the Gold Coast City Council prepares to finalise amendments to its short-term accommodation policy before the August sitting. Tourism numbers have rebounded strongly after the pandemic, yet residents say the same recovery has pushed long-term rentals out of reach in several beachside precincts.
Stories from Surfers Paradise and Mermaid Beach
Mark, who has lived on Cavill Avenue for nine years, described waking most mornings to groups unloading suitcases from hire cars at 2am. He noted that three of the six apartments in his block now operate as Airbnb listings, cutting the supply of permanent rentals and pushing his own lease renewal up by $110 a week in March. Further south on Hedges Avenue, retiree Helen recounted how a neighbouring duplex changed hands in late 2024 and now hosts up to eight guests at a time, with bins left on the verge for days after each checkout.
Both streets sit inside the zones the council has flagged for potential caps of 60 nights per year for non-hosted properties. Neighbours formed a small email group last month to track noise complaints and share photographs of overflowing rubbish, sending the bundle directly to the planning department.
Numbers behind the submissions
Council data released in June showed 4,872 active short-term rental listings across the city, with 62 percent concentrated in the coastal strip between Main Beach and Broadbeach. Median weekly rents in those same postcodes rose from $685 in 2023 to $825 by the March quarter this year. The spike coincides with the opening of additional light-rail stops at Southport and the continued construction of new apartment towers ahead of the 2032 Olympic venues at Coomera and Robina.
Planning officers will present a summary of the submissions to councillors on 22 July. Residents who lodged comments have been invited to register for a public briefing at the Southport Town Hall the following week, where they can ask questions about enforcement timelines and any proposed transition periods for existing operators.