Short stay accommodation jumps in Tasmania amid rental squeeze

A new short stay accommodation dashboard has been launched which shows there are over 4,700 whole home short stays statewide. (ABC News: Loretta Lohberger) A new short stay accommodation dashboard has been launched in Tasmania, showing the number of dwellings used as primary and secondary short-stay residences statewide. The number of whole homes that have been converted to short stay accommodation has increased by 498 since since the end of 2024. New legislation to introduce a five per cent levy on short accommodation will be debated in Tasmanian Parliament's upper house. Link copiedShareShare articleAlmost 500 more whole homes in Tasmania have been converted to short-stay accommodation in just over a 12-month period, according to newly released state government data. The total number of whole-home short stays across the state now sits at 4,719 as of the first quarter of this year. At the end of 2024, that number was 4,221. Until today, the quarterly release of short stay data had not been updated since December 2024, meaning there was no publicly available way of tracking just how many homes had become short stay properties. The figures come as the state grapples with a severe rental shortage, highlighted by a recent Anglicare Tasmania report earlier this month, which revealed a dwindling number of rentals were available. A recent housing report highlighted an alarming statistic: Tasmania has less than half the number of vacant rentals than it did a decade ago. The data, published quarterly on a new online dashboard by Consumer, Building and Occupational Services (CBOS), breaks the number of short-stays into two categories: primary residence and secondary residence. Primary residence indicates the short-stay owner is sharing their own home, and this category makes up the majority of short-stay accommodation in the state, totalling 4,950. All up, the total number of short-stays in Tasmania is 9,669 — an overall increase of 200 from the last quarter. The vast majority of those are Airbnbs, and the largest number of short stays, by far, can be found in Hobart. The greater Hobart region accounts for about two-fifths of the state's short-stay accommodation. In the state's capital, CBOS data shows there are 726 reported whole-home short stays, an increase of 43 compared to the same time last year. The increase in short stays has become more pressing for the city as the rental market tightens and the vacancy rate hovers around one per cent. The ratio of total rentals in the city compared to the number of whole home short stays goes some way to explaining this rental squeeze, according to housing expert and University of Sydney Emeritus Professor Peter Phibbs. "It's probably double what Melbourne and Sydney are, for instance." Hobart City Council Lord Mayor Anna Renyolds says a significant percentage of houses are being used for short term accommodation. (ABC News: Jacinta Bos ) Hobart City Council has attempted to curb the increase in short-stay accommodation through increasing rates for short-stay dwellings, and more recently, increasing the fee to convert dwellings to short-stay. Lord Mayor Anna Reynolds said the new figures are bad news for renters in Hobart. "It is really concerning how many rental properties we are losing to the short-stay market," Cr Reynolds said. Of particular concern for the council, Cr Reynolds said, was an inability for planning regulations to effectively rein in short-stays. "There are planning discretions set out in the state government's planning directive, which deregulates short stay but supposedly gives us power to refuse some applications," she said. Tasmanian Housing Minister Kerry Vincent said the new dashboard was an important step towards improving transparency around short-stay accommodation data. "We will continue strengthening reporting requirements as data collection methods continue to evolve," Mr Vincent said. Last week, housing was a focus in the Tasmanian parliament. Tasmania is one step closer to introducing a levy on short-stay accommodation, after legislation passed the lower house. Anglicare Tasmania's damning rental affordability report had just been released, and a proposed five per cent levy on short-stays was set to be debated. The missing data was a point of concern for Independent Clark MP Helen Burnet, who had called for the government to release it last week. "This has been talked about for a long time and this data is really key for policy setting," Ms Burnet said. The short stay levy passed the lower house of Parliament last Friday and will now be debated in the upper house.

Short stay accommodation jumps in Tasmania amid rental squeeze

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