The CBD is a fantastic spot to are living. But citizens are rightfully discouraged by the absence of affordable housing and the at any time-increasing amount of small-stay accommodation dominating our suburbs.

In the latest months, the Greens have been ramping up strain on the state governing administration to choose urgent motion to tackle the worsening housing crisis. With so lots of short-remain houses sitting empty for most of the year, we will need urgent action to get a lot more residences into the extensive-term market place so they can be rented to families who have to have them.

I’m proud to share that next negotiations with my Greens colleagues and I in Parliament, the Treasurer has declared a new taskforce will be proven to look into alternatives to the housing crisis.

The taskforce will consider 3 significant concerns that the Greens place on the desk:

Halting endless lease raises, this sort of as a cap on hire will increase, like now exists in the ACT.

Regulation of brief-stays, these types of as Airbnbs.

Strengthening Victoria’s emptiness tax, to make additional vacant residences accessible for renters or 1st property buyers.

We’ve since heard that the Labor Govt is considering a $5 tax per booking for landlords who lease qualities out on limited-remain platforms like Airbnb, but this will not solve the difficulty, as house owners with several flats will even now be equipped to make significantly more dollars on the quick-remain sector and have no incentive to set their qualities up for extended-expression rental.

Instead, we require suitable caps on the number of evenings a residence can be leased as a small-continue to be per year, in buy to get homes back on the prolonged-term rental industry.

I initial elevated the difficulty of brief-stays in Parliament all the way again in 2014, and in May my Greens colleagues and I tried to introduce a bill to Parliament to control quick-keep accommodation. Disappointingly, the Victorian Labor Government would not help the bill.

But I’m hopeful that with this new taskforce, we could eventually be about to see some action.

The Greens system to regulate short-stays would introduce a 90-day cap on how several evenings for every yr a house can be rented out, along with new rules to let owners’ corporations to regulate shorter-stays in their creating. These are sensible actions that imply you can even now lease out a area or rent out your dwelling when you go on holiday break but would reduce buyers from obtaining up several complete flats just to make mega earnings and never leasing them out extended-term.

Even though the taskforce is a welcome announcement, it is disheartening that when Labor had the possibility to deal with the issue of shorter-stays, they refused. And just after nine a long time of campaigning, I know that the neighborhood is unwell of waiting for meaningful reforms, but I hope this is the instant where the tension ultimately turns into so wonderful that reform transpires. •

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