The mayor of Noosa has made good on her promise to write to hundreds of non-resident ratepayers to help address the region’s housing crisis.
Mayor Clare Stewart has made an impassioned plea to them to put their short-stay let property or vacant holiday homes onto the permanent rental market.
The appeal comes as Noosa Council looks at ways to boost the availability of affordable rental properties, to help ease the shire’s housing woes.
“We are seeing workers struggling to find homes and the loss of these workers has a detrimental impact on businesses and organisations delivering critical services to our community,” Cr Stewart said.
In the letter, the mayor outlines the financial and community benefits available to homeowners when they make their property available for rent by a permanent tenant, including cheaper rates, insurance and a guaranteed income.
“We offer one of the best places to visit, but on the flipside, we have a lot of vacant properties that could go a long way to addressing the current housing crisis,” she said.
There are about 5200 self-contained homes in Noosa that are used for short-term visitor accommodation. Census figures indicate about 18 per cent of all housing in Noosa was vacant on Census night.
Noosa Council introduced a transitory accommodation rating category for properties used for short-term letting. Rates charged for short-term accommodation properties are significantly higher than those properties permanently occupied by the owner or a tenant.
“We appreciate that investors have a right to their holiday home income, but given the current situation, we are simply asking owners to consider helping ‘Keep Noosa Home’ and ease the problem by making their property available for rent by a permanent tenant,” Cr Stewart said.
“Put simply, there are not enough houses available to rent for the people who live and work here and who contribute to our society and economy.”
Cr Stewart said the council had endorsed a Housing Strategy, which clearly identified the housing crisis Noosa was experiencing and proposed a range of initiatives and solutions to assist all stakeholders and the state and federal governments to improve housing choice and affordability.
“It needs to be a collaborative effort and we feel homeowners and investors can also play their part,” she said.
“We are committed to ensuring there is suitable housing available for the people who work here, for the families who have lived here and contributed to the community for many years and for the elderly who have known no other place.”
Help keep independent and fair Sunshine Coast news coming by subscribing to our free daily news feed. All it requires is your name and email. See SUBSCRIBE at the top of this article.
Meanwhile, Treasurer Cameron Dick has put the call out for innovative affordable and social housing proposals through the State Government’s $2 billion Housing Investment Fund.
Mr Dick said the new invitation for expressions of interest would provide financial backing for ready-to-go social and affordable housing developments on privately owned sites, including affordable-only proposals.
“At last year’s Queensland Housing Summit, our government committed to doubling the size of our signature Housing Investment Fund to $2 billion, which means annual funding of $130 million is now available,” he said.
“This supports our increased target of 5600 additional social and affordable home commencements across Queensland by 30 June, 2027.
“This is an opportunity for quality, market-ready housing projects on privately owned sites to be supported by the HIF to deliver more affordable and social housing for Queenslanders, either through new construction or the repurposing of existing dwellings.”
Mr Dick said the invitation expanded eligibility and would allow a greater segment of the market to participate in bringing forward new housing, supporting the state’s commitments under the National Housing Accord.
More information on the Housing Investment Fund is available on the website, with expressions of interest due to close on May 8.
