Holiday-makers on Queensland's Gold Coast could feel the pinch of a local government rate rise targeting short-term accommodation owners.

The Gold Coast City Council announced a 26.21 per cent increase in rates for people renting out their properties to Glitter Strip visitors.

It came as part of the council's 2024-25 budget delivery on Friday.

Gold Coasters who live in their primary place of residence will see their rates increase 4.20 per cent, below CPI.

Mayor Tom Tate said it was unfair short-term accommodation owners getting rich from their properties weren't paying "a bit of interest".

"They're getting commercial benefit like a hotel, so we felt that's a commercial activity, so we've increased that to compensate," he said.

As of May 2024, there were 11,430 short-term accommodation dwellings registered with City of Gold Coast.

Mayor Tate has encouraged Gold Coast residents to "dob in" short-term accommodation owners who haven't registered their property for commercial use.

"There's parties going on and all different people every weekend … [residents] can ring us and sometimes if it's loud we'll take the police with us," Cr Tate said.

Costs passed on

Jemma Laing, who manages Airbnb properties across south east Queensland and NSW, said they included 59 properties on the Gold Coast.

She said it would be unlikely that the rate hike would convince short-term rental property owners to exit that sector and enter the long-term rental market.

"We balance it out by increasing the nightly rate … it's not going to break the bank so to speak for the owner," she said.

The Gold Coast's famous golden beaches and sparkling skyline attract 13 million visitors to the city each year, a huge driver for its $41 billion economy.

But with an extremely tight rental market — sitting at 1 per cent in March according to PropTrack data – local government is feeling the pressure to making it easier for residents to find somewhere to live.

Little impact on crisis

Real Estate Institute of Queensland chief executive Antonia Mercorella said the Gold Coast's rate hike would have little impact on its housing crisis.

"It's a significant hike, I think many will pass on to the holiday-makers, I'm not sure that it is the right way of going about solving the housing crisis," she said.

"We'd rather focus on increasing supply than punishing investors."

Ms Mercorella acknowledged housing stress was front of mind for many Gold Coast residents and that pressure was on the local government to find solutions.

Last year, nearby Byron Shire Council on the NSW north coast, forced landlords to cap some short-term rentals at 60 days in a bid to ease its housing crisis.

"Local governments can do more to incentivise housing supply," Ms Mercorella said.

"[They can] look at the processes associated with getting development approvals, all of that red tape that exists and streamlining that process."