A NSW south coast council has pleaded with holiday homeowners to rent out their summer getaways

A NSW south coast mayor has taken the extraordinary step of writing to over 8,000 holiday homeowners as the area faces a rental crisis.

A mayor on the NSW south coast has written to over 8,000 holiday homeowners from Sydney and Canberra, pleading for them to consider renting out their summer getaways to locals amid a deepening coastal housing crisis.

Eurobodalla Shire Council Mayor Mathew Hatcher urged non-local property owners to consider taking tenants for one to two years, while more long-term solutions were being established.

“We know that a lot of Canberrans, and I was one of them, use this area as their holiday destination every summer,“ Councillor Hatcher said in a widely circulated letter.

“There‘s no doubt about it, we want you down here, we need your money, we need you to be a tourist for this region.

“But this is a social disaster of epic proportions … it‘s a pitch for dignity and humanity.

“We can‘t wait years for homes to be built. We need to address the lack of rental properties in our community right now.”

Eurobodalla Shire Council Mayor Mathew Hatcher has issued a rare plea to thousands of yearly tourists. Picture: Supplied

Eurobodalla Shire, which stretches from South Durras in the north to past Tilba Tilba in the south, has 4,000 homes owned by residents primarily living in Sydney.

A further 3,500 homes are owned by Canberrans, with more than a third of all properties owned by non-residents.

While coastal homes are hot property for city dwellers, locals have felt the sting of the inflated rental market, with more than 50 locals living at a local campground.

Additionally, 500 homes were lost in the wake of the black summer bushfires in 2019/20, which led to similar pleas from the council.

“More than 80 homes were placed into the market,“ Cr Hatcher said, referencing the aftermath of the disaster.

“If people can repeat that generosity, it would be a significant help.“

The region was left devastated by the destructive fires of 2020. Picture: Stuart McEvoy/The Australian.

Cr Hatcher’s pleas mirror similar concerns held for pockets of Queensland, with the state currently gripped by its worst rental crisis in history.

87,000 homes throughout the sunshine state are currently empty, with the total number of properties not serving as the primary residents of the owners sitting above half a million.

Real Estate Institute of Queensland CEO Antonia Mercorella told the ABC the state’s rental market was the worst on record, with tenancy rates below 1 per cent statewide.

“We’ve never seen anything like this,” she said.

Back in NSW, Cr Hatcher told non-local homeowners that he didn’t want to see the area go down a route similar to the regulatory measures of Byron Bay, where local councils have reduced the number of days owners can rent their homes out for short-term holidays.

“I‘m hoping this letter will bring about enough supply so that we don’t have to go to the next level,” he said.

“We know not everyone can do this, I do not expect every house to come back on the market.

“But we know there are some people who are in a positive position where they can take a little hit in the short term that will assist this community so long into the future.”