Owners of vacant homes in Western Australia will be handed $5000 for renting out their properties for at least a year as part of a government bid to free up supply in the state’s tight housing market.

With Perth’s vacancy rate sitting at about 0.4 per cent, Commerce Minister Sue Ellery said the government never considered imposing a tax on vacant property owners and instead opted for an incentive scheme to compel them to put homes onto the long-term rental market.