Regional renters face homelessness while short term stays sit dormant, inquiry hears

Young mum Shaye Topaz was pregnant when her family was booted from their long-term rental. As she desperately letter dropped to more than 200 homes, she realised most were empty.

Regional renters are desperately scrabbling to secure homes as landlords evict long-term renters to create Airbnbs, a parliamentary inquiry has heard.

A mum of three, an empty nester and a young woman with a disability were among a group of regional Victorians to offer their rental horror stories to an inquiry into Victoria’s rental and housing affordability crisis on Tuesday.

The investigation, which has attracted more than 500 submissions, was launched in May after the Greens teamed up with the Coalition to defeat attempts by the Andrews government to block the inquiry from going ahead.

The Victorian Greens pushed for the inquiry into Victoria’s crippling housing crisis, despite Labor’s attempts to block the investigation. Picture: David Crosling

During public hearings on Tuesday, mum of three Shaye Topaz, said she was five months pregnant when her family was booted from their six-year rental home at Lakes Entrance.

Desperate to find a place to live, Ms Topaz and her partner dropped 200 letters into local homes after competing against dozens of other families for the tiny pool of rentals.

“The months kept going by. I’m getting bigger and bigger, (and I’m) starting to freak out about where we’re gonna live, where am I gonna birth this baby, how are we going to settle as a family,” she said.

“We did a huge letter drop around the Lakes Tyres region, hundreds and hundreds of letters basically begging for somewhere to live (and) we’re just walking past houses that are sitting empty.

“They’re obviously Airbnb’s being used for tourism seasons just to make that quick bit of money over those few months in those hot spot areas, but we had nowhere to live.”

Previous homeowner, Jillian Warne, aged in her 60s, told the inquiry she now considers herself homeless.

Ms Warne, a single mum, raised her children in her Port Fairy home, but with rising cost of trades and materials for repairs, she was forced to sell.

“Despite contacting every real estate agent in the district and approaching homeowners directly, I could not find anything (to rent) in three months,” she said.

Legal and Social Issues Committee member Liberal MP Matthew Bach asked renters about possible solutions. Picture: Andrew Henshaw

Fellow Committee member, Greens MP for Western Victoria Sarah Mansfield, asked councils about rent freezes. Picture: Glenn Ferguson

“Despite being a desirable tenant, a mature person with no pets, who can care for a house and garden and am able to pay more rate and bond.”

Ms Warne said long-time community members and volunteers were being pushed out due to the influx of short term stays and holiday homes.

“The vacancy rates are very low for permanent rentals, with high demand for housing for workers,” she said.

All five renters who fronted the inquiry expressed fear about asking landlords for repairs, with one young renter calling her experience “dehumanising”.

Hepburn Shire Council CEO Bradley Thomas told the inquiry special fees on short term stays were being considered, but that it was difficult identifying which properties fit into that category.

“(A short term stay) is no different to running a newsagent or other type of business” he said.

“But it’s really hard to know which house is a short term stay without a regulation system.”

The Andrews government is considering a tourism levy on Airbnbs. Photo: Lionel Bonaventure

Mr Thomas said 23 per cent of the private dwellings in Hepburn were unoccupied – twice the rate for Victoria.

“Many of these are used for short stay accommodation or holiday homes by owners,” he said, noting “well over 1000” properties were listed as Airbnb’s.

The Andrews government is considering a tourism levy on short term stays in Victoria to generate millions of dollars in revenue across the nearly 60,000 rooms available, which could then go towards local projects such as social or affordable housing.

Swan Hill Rural City Council development and planning director Heather Green said the state government’s new Regional Housing Fund – announced off the back of the Commonwealth Games cancellation – would not meet demands.

“It’ll never be enough. We have huge demand for social housing,” she said.

“The going right for a mattress on a floor in a house for a seasonal agricultural worker is about $150 a week.

“There could be 10 people living in a standard three bedroom house.”