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In a bid to get more Tasmanians “under a roof”, the Rockliff government is offering more incentives for private property owners to become landlords.
The Tasmanian government announced the expansion of its Private Rental Incentive (PRI) program — with the scheme now providing financial incentives for a total of 400 private rentals.
Under the initiative, which was initially funded under Tasmania’s Affordable Housing Action Plan 2019–2023, property owners can rent their properties to those in need at 25 to 30 per cent below the median rate in their region.
Participating property owners receive an incentive payment per property of between $6,600 and $9,900 per year, as well as free property management services from the statewide property manager Centacare Evolve Housing.
The rent guarantee scheme will be available for two-year leases until 30 June 2024.
“We know many Tasmanians are struggling to find an affordable rental, so if you have a property you can rent to someone who needs a hand up, we can help you,’’ the Minister for State Development, Construction and Housing, Guy Barnett, said.
With 260 properties currently operating under the scheme, the minister called on 140 more properties to join the program.
“That’s peace of mind, no fees and an opportunity to help people in need while getting a guaranteed return for your rental property,’’ he remarked.
The PRI program is part of the government’s $1.5 billion housing package, which aims to deliver 10,000 homes by 2032.
So far, the Rockliff government has built 735 homes and is on track to build 1,500 affordable homes by June 2023.
Despite the expansion of the PRI program, the Opposition has criticised that the Labor government “needs to do more” to fix the state’s housing crisis.
Shadow housing minister Ella Haddad said that while Labor welcomes increasing the number of participating properties, she pointed out that the program “has been around for a long time”.
“[The] Liberal government needs to be doing far more to assist the increasing number of Tasmanians in desperate need,” she stated.
Ms Haddad cited that there are currently over 4,500 people waiting for housing in Tasmania, and the PRI program “realistically only helps a small minority of people”, many of whom have been on the waiting list for years.
She also highlighted that due to the time-limited nature of the program, renters run the risk of being “plunged back into the unaffordable private rental market” at the end of their two-year lease.
With only 17 new homes built in December 2022 — significantly below the government’s target of building 10,000 homes in 10 years or 83.3 a month — Ms Haddad said that the Liberal government is “missing the mark completely”.
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