Airbnb operators could be hit with extra building fees to repair the wear and tear inflicted by holidaymakers on Melbourne's apartment buildings.
A parliamentary committee has recommended a major overhaul of the Andrews government's planned short-stay reforms, saying the proposed laws do not give owners corporations enough power.
A key issue is guests causing excessive damage to common areas, including from dragging suitcases through lobbies and lifts.
The committee, chaired by the opposition's planning spokesman David Davis, recommended the government consider giving owners corporations the power to bill short-stay hosts with extra fees to cover maintenance and repair damage caused by their guests.
An exact rate is yet to be proposed.
Mr Davis said the committee heard evidence some apartment building facilities were being used on an industrial scale, similar to a hotel.
"There is one piece of footage we were provided of the moving of laundry – masses and masses of it up and down the lift," he said.
"If you have a whole corridor of short stays the impact on the building, the carpet and lifts is very different to if it were all single families."
Short-stay units also attracted instances of "prostitution", violence and drug taking in residential complexes – forcing buildings to employ security guards, the committee heard.
The government's short-stay bill was first read into parliament last year, but it is not yet law.
It has some measures to crack down on party houses, including $2000 compensation for residents affected by unruly guests and bans on short-stays in apartments where the occupants were found guilty of three cases of "inappropriate conduct" within two years.
However, some resident and strata groups suggest the reforms do not go far enough, arguing corporations should be given the right to ban commercial short-term occupation, if supported by 75 per cent of owners.
"An owners corporation that might pass that special resolution amongst themselves may choose to do it, or it may choose to say, 'Actually we're pretty open and pretty friendly to short‑term stays. We want to keep that because we want to incentivise owners to do that if they wish'," said Strata Title Lawyers chief executive Tom Bacon.
Large holiday home operators Airbnb and Stayz both gave evidence to the inquiry.
Airbnb revealed it had 26,000 listings across Victoria, including about 10,000 in Melbourne (making the city one of Airbnb's top 10 cities).
Airbnb's Australian head of public policy, Brent Thomas, said Airbnb brought significant benefits to the Victorian economy, and the company supported the government's proposed reforms.
He said 35 per cent of Airbnb guests reported that without Airbnb they would not have travelled at all or would have shortened their trip.
"On average, Airbnb guests stay 2.1 times longer and spend 1.8 times more than typical visitors," Mr Thomas said.
"We believe the proposed measures fairly place responsibility for antisocial behaviour upon the perpetrators, whilst also attributing appropriate responsibility upon negligent and careless hosts for the irresponsible actions of their guests."