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The state government’s Private Rental Incentives (PRI) program will look to limit the financial barriers preventing owners from providing relief to tenants.
As part of the PRI program, property owners can receive an incentive payment of up to $9,900 per property each year in exchange for making their properties available for affordable renting for households on low income and with minimal or no support needs.
Rents are capped at between 25 per cent and 30 per cent beneath the median rates in their respective region, with property owners guaranteed rent for a two-year lease.
Information sessions on the program were scheduled for Devonport last Thursday, 13 October, and Launceston the following day, Friday, 14 October, which the government hopes will enlighten prospective participants further.
Centacare Evolve Housing, an organisation that owns or manages approximately 2,500 homes across the state, will onboard the tenant and property management duties on behalf of the property owners.
The Tasmanian government also announced that it’s doubling the portfolio with incentives with a further 200 homes under the expanded program.
Rental support for low-income Tasmanians has long been on the government’s agenda. Earlier this year, when the state was plagued by some of the tightest rental markets in its existence, Guy Barnett, the state’s Minister for State Development, Construction, and Housing, called for the National Rental Affordability Scheme (NRAS) to be extended beyond its scheduled 2026 conclusion.
CoreLogic’s Rental Review for the third quarter of 2022 had Hobart’s vacancy rate at 1.1 per cent, while rents climbed 0.4 per cent in the state capital throughout the quarter.
The PRI program is the latest in a string of investments into solving the housing affordability crisis in the island state. The state’s 2022–23 budget revealed plans to stimulate social and affordable housing and tackle homelessness through a $538 million investment across the next four years.
Nearly half of that proposal, $204 million, is to be spent throughout the current financial year.
The funding is a core component of the government’s $1.5 billion housing package that will hopefully deliver 1,500 homes by June 2023 and 10,000 homes by 2032.
Moreover, the government also targeted the housing supply. The state’s $15 million Residential Land Rebate that provided potential returns of up to $400,000 for property developers has been doubled to $30 million.
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