Holiday home owners in Western Australia’s largest food and wine region have rejected requests to rent their vacant properties and say they are being treated as scapegoats for the country’s housing crisis .
Key Points:
- Short stay properties outnumber long term rentals available in Busselton by more than four to one
- Mayor says local government campaigns to encourage landlords to open up to long-term renters have had some success on the East Coast
- Homeowners say the lack of public housing is the real problem
The mayor of the south-west resort town of Busselton, Grant Henley, will write to the owners of hundreds of private holiday homes asking them to rent out the properties to desperate people.
There are 35 long-term rental properties listed online for Busselton and Dunsborough compared to 167 short-term rental properties, such as Airbnb.
Henley said he was acting out of desperation.
“I’m making a plea to these owners if they’re not using these properties to really consider putting them on the market long-term,” he said.
There are numerous holiday homes in Busselton and the owners feel it is not fair to be asked to open them up to long term renters. (ABC South West: Georgia Loney)
Henley said authorities on the East Coast had taken similar measures “out of desperation,” with some success.
“The Eurobodalla Council on the South Coast of New South Wales sent 1000 letters to property owners in Canberra and Sydney and got 40 or 50 properties back on the rental market,” he said.
“So it’s better than nothing.”
Busselton’s population is increasing and accommodation is in short supply. (ABC South West: Anthony Pancia)
Focus on the “real problems,” say owners
Holiday home owners responded angrily to Mr Henley’s plea.
Davinia Gillard manages 80 holiday properties, many in Busselton and Dunsborough.
“They are using these people as a scapegoat to focus on the real problems: the lack of government housing and the shortage of building materials and tradesmen,” he said.
“Should it go back to the government and why aren’t they building more public housing?”
The owners say they are being unfairly blamed for a situation the government should have foreseen. (ABC News: Sam Bold)
Ms Gillard said she had discussed with the owners whether they would consider long-term leases.
“They’re very clear that they wouldn’t rent their house long-term because it’s their house that they use on a regular basis,” he said.
“When they’re not using it, they rent it out to vacationers for extra income.”
Graham told ABC radio that he owned a holiday home in Dunsborough and that the real problem was a shortage of public housing.
“The government has been lax on public housing, going back decades,” he said.
“I mean it’s his responsibility.
“There’s a certain proportion of the population that can’t afford to buy homes and that’s not the government’s responsibility? I’m not sure it’s mine.”
Earlier this year, Busselton introduced some of Australia’s toughest regulations for short-stay rental properties.
Local laws imposed an overnight curfew on the number of guests after 10 p.m., required property managers to respond to complaints within 12 hours, and included a ban on dogs being left alone in the properties
Operators who do not comply with the new regulations face the threat of being deregistered.