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THE ALPINE
BRIGHT - POREPUNKAH - MT BEAUTY - TAWONGA - TAWONGA SOUTH Wednesday, February 14, 2024
Phone: (03) 5752 1058
www.alpineobserver.com.au
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COLLEGE HOUSE PRIDE HOUSE PRIDE: Wearing their yellow colours with enthusiasm, secondary student members of Bright P-12 College’s Ovens House were the winners at the school’s swimming carnival last Thursday. ■ Story page 4.
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BANK BRANCH CLOSURE
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A LOCAL BIRD BUDDY
The Airbnb shire
A NEW report shows over ten percent of properties in the Alpine Shire are on Airbnb, with around 1.6 per cent of Victoria’s total dwellings listed on the short-term accommodation platform. The figures have been detailed in a peer-reviewed report by consulting firm Urbis, who were engaged by Airbnb to examine the relationship between shortterm rental accommodation (STRA) and housing affordability. Holiday hot-spots the Alpine, Hepburn and Surf Coast local government areas all have over 10 per cent of dwellings listed as non-hosted STRA on Airbnb. ‘Non-hosted’ refers
More than one in 10 alpine p p properties p on accommodation p platform BY BRODIE EVERIST beverist@ nemedia.com.au
to dwellings where the accommodation host does not reside on the premises during the provision of accommodation. As noted in the report, a hosted STRA property still functions as a long-term residential dwelling and therefore does not directly impact the supply and availability of long-term accommodation. Key findings from the report include “a weak relationship” between the number of non-hosted dwellings listed on Airbnb
and changes in rent prices, and a similar “weak relationship” between the proportion of non-hosted dwellings on the platform and the proportion of households in rental stress. “Even within locations with a relatively high proportion of dwellings utilised as non-hosted STRA (i.e. over 10 per cent), housing affordability varies substantially, indicating that STRA has no consistent impact on housing affordability,” the report says. The Urbis report used data supplied by Airbnb for listings between January 2016 to December 2022. Airbnb country manager for Australia and New
Zealand Susan Wheeldon said short-term rentals are not the root cause of the housing crisis. “We want to continue to work with governments and communities to implement statewide rules as the most sensible way to regulate short-term rentals through initiatives, like property registration schemes, so a sustainable approach can be adopted that benefits both communities and industry,” she said Long-time Bright holiday rental property owner Rod Hall suggested the findings of the Urbis report cast doubt on the capacity of Alpine Shire Council’s proposed short-term
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accommodation local law to encourage more permanent rentals. He said rental costs had increased across the state, suggesting the Alpine Shire’s significant number of short-term rentals was not a primary cause of high rent prices, and said many short-term renters may be planning to move into their currently rented property. “We don’t have knowledge of what, in that particular 10 per cent, how many will be turned into permanent accommodation,” he said. “I know for a fact that many of those properties are owned by people who want to come up here eventually.”
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A separate discussion paper released on Friday by the Regional Australia Institute suggested the increasing popularity of short-stay accommodation and vacant holiday homes is limiting rental stock availability in regions, and suggested regional councils encourage owners to put their properties up for longterm rental. “Local governments can appeal directly to landlords of local vacant housing, to urge the redirection of this vacant housing onto the local long-term rental market,” the paper said. “This has been successful in some regions through local mailout campaigns.”
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