Mornington Peninsula Council to spend up to $20k asking ratepayers to rent properties to families in need
A Melbourne council wants ratepayers to sacrifice summers by the sea and “money-making” short stay schemes to help the homeless.
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A Melbourne council wants ratepayers to sacrifice summers by the sea and “money-making” short-stay schemes to help the homeless.
Ratepayers with holiday houses and short-stay properties on the Mornington Peninsula will be asked to add their assets to the long-term rental market.
The local council on Tuesday voted unanimously to spend up to $20,000 writing to multiple property owners asking them to consider immediately putting their houses on the rental market.
Real estate agents will be asked to help spread the word.
Mornington Peninsula Shire will also ask the state government to develop a statewide framework to deal with the short stay rental market.
The actions were prompted by ongoing concerns over the growing number of homeless in the region after the council revealed there were almost 3000 people in need of housing.
Accusations flew during the fiery debate as Councillor Despi O’Connor accused real estate agents and landlords of “money making rorts” for basing rising rents on property values rather than the mortgage repayments.
Cr O’Connor, who recently stood as a teal independent in the federal seat of Flinders, said the property boom during Covid lockdowns had forced renters, many of them low income earners working in the health and hospitality industries, out of their homes.
“Rent has been blown out of the water as real estate agents and landlords base that on the value of their home and not the mortgage that’s attached to it. It’s a money making rort,” she said.
Cr Sarah Race revealed her own neighbour in Tootgarook only used his house “four weekends a year” and called on him to offer the property as a long term rental.
“Wouldn’t that be great if he rented that out to a family? That would be ideal,” she said.
However, not all councillors backed the plan.
Cr Susan Bissinger likened it to communist China.
“A person’s asset is their own asset,” she said.
“They shouldn’t be expected to surrender that asset to the will of the community.
“If you want to go and live in China, that’s where they do they type of thing, I certainly don’t advocate for it here.
“Our ratepayers … own these houses and they’re paying good money on them every year to the council.”
Cr Bissinger also feared the plan was an attack on the region’s tourism industry that relied on short stay rentals for accommodation.
The councillors agreed that the issue was a local government responsibility.
However, most felt compelled to act to help homeless residents.
“The state government has been totally incompetent in the way that they have managed this in the decades prior,” Cr Kerri McCafferty said.
“We have not had sufficient advocacy from our MPs and we have not had sufficient investment into our area so now we have people living on the beach.”