Victorian government announces latest changes to short stay levy bill
Victorian getaway homes could soon be in short supply after the government said today it would grant body corporations and councils the power to ban them. The new laws accompany a new levy which is designed to free up more housing stock, but opponents to it say it'll just make travelling here, unaffordable.
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00:00Leanne Taylor's Airbnb offers a unique inner-city escape.
00:07Safe, secure, quiet, well-furnished.
00:09But soon she'll be the one fleeing from what she says is the increasingly inhospitable Airbnb business.
00:16I just can't afford to keep it.
00:18Today the government announced it would give local councils and body corporations new powers
00:23to limit or ban owners from using their properties as short-term rentals.
00:28We know that with record low vacancy rates across rental accommodation offerings
00:32we need to be pulling every lever we possibly can.
00:35The government is also pushing ahead with a 7.5% levy on short-term and holiday rentals
00:41which the owner will pay after they receive a booking.
00:44And we've got to get the balance right if we want to get people into homes.
00:48There are about 50,000 short-term rental homes in Victoria
00:52and the government and the Greens hope the new laws forces many of them back onto the long-term rental market.
00:57This is going to crack down on property investors hoarding homes for profit
01:02and it's going to stop them from buying up homes in the first place
01:05just because they can cash in on platforms like Airbnb.
01:08I think they're using us as a bit of a scapegoat for the wider property market issues.
01:15The new laws and the levy come after some landlords continue to lament the state government's controversial land tax
01:22and the industry says all this is doing is making it harder for Victorians to find a cheap place to stay.
01:28It's not something I think Airbnb homeowners are going to absorb.
01:33I think you'll find that that gets passed on to the end guests.
01:36And that may mean that some guests may just choose to go elsewhere.
01:39The new laws and the levy will come into effect at the start of next year.
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