Primary places of residence in Victoria will be exempt from an Australian-first levy on short-stay accommodation such as Airbnb and Stayz.

The Victorian government will introduce a bill to parliament on Tuesday to establish a 7.5 per cent consumer-facing levy on short-stay platform bookings.

The levy was one of the centrepiece policies of the Victorian housing statement unveiled in September 2023, however further details on how the levy would operate were scant.

After consultation with stakeholders and negotiations with the crossbench, the Labor government has decided the levy won’t apply to homeowners leasing out part or all of their principal place of residence for short-stays.

In addition, owner corporations will be able to ban short stays in their buildings with a 75 per cent vote of owners.

Commercial accommodation – such as hotels, motels and caravan parks – will also be exempt, as initially flagged.

The levy will only apply to stays of fewer than 28 days.

Under changes to the planning systems, local councils will have powers to regulate short-stay accommodation.

“This is an important step towards making more properties available for long-term rental – and we’ve consulted with the sector to make sure we’ve got the balance right,” Treasurer Tim Pallas said.

The Victorian Greens have claimed credit for the levy changes.

“The Greens reforms will combine a property investor levy with new powers for councils and owners corporations to ban or limit short-stay accommodation in their communities,” Greens spokesperson for renters’ rights Gabrielle de Vietri said.

“We know that communities across Victoria are sick to death of property investors snapping up homes to cash in on Airbnb, while locals struggle to find somewhere to live.”

The levy is slated to come into effect from 2025 and will raise $60 million a year to build and maintain social housing.

-AAP