Government plans to pay landlords to offer affordable rental properties

LANDLORDS will be paid up to $13,000 a year and guaranteed 12 months rent if they make their houses available to low-income Tasmanians under a new state government scheme.

Housing Minister Roger Jaensch has outlined a new inventive program to help boost affordable housing stock. Picture: ROGER LOVELL

LANDLORDS will be paid up to $13,000 a year and guaranteed 12 months rent if they make their houses available to low-income Tasmanians under a new state government scheme.

The private rental incentive pilot program was announced by Housing Minister Roger Jaensch yesterday, with the aim of opening up properties not currently available on the long-term rental market.

Under the pilot program, which will run from next month until June next year, renters already on the social housing register can be matched with houses offered by private landlords through Housing Tasmania.

Rental prices paid by the tenant would be capped, while landlords would receive an additional $10,000 over 12 months for properties in the North and North-West and $13,000 for properties in the South, paid quarterly.

However, eligibility criteria for landlords will not be released until next month.

A DHHS spokesman said the initiative was designed to target good-quality properties within the lower price range of the private rental market.

Labor’s housing spokesman Josh Willie. Picture: PATRICK GEE

Mr Jaensch said the scheme would cost up to $1.6 million and was expected to provide accommodation for 110 households.

However, Labor’s housing spokesman Josh Willie said the pilot program was a panicked decision in the face of a worsening housing crisis, and there was a risk of cost blowouts if leases were broken.

“It’s a really dumb policy, it’s regressive, effectively what the Government is doing is providing state government welfare for property investors,” Mr Willie said.

“The new minister with this policy announcement has effectively admitted that their deregulation of short-stay accommodation is having an impact, and now he’s throwing taxpayer’s money at the problem they’ve created.”

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TasCOSS chief executive Kym Goodes. Picture: RICHARD JUPE

Mr Willie and Greens leader Cassy O’Connor called on the Government to regulate short-stay accommodation.

Mr Jaensch repeatedly failed to rule out regulating Airbnb at his press conference on Tuesday, but a government spokesman later said the Government was not considering changes to Airbnb regulations.

TasCOSS chief executive Kym Goodes said the program would start to level the playing field for the lowest income Tasmanians who have been locked out of the housing market.

Shelter Tasmania said it was pleased the Government was taking further steps to help low-income people, and the program was a short-term measure that must be complemented with longer-term strategies.