Warrnambool mayor wants more funds for regional areas from new levy

Warrnambool mayor Debbie Arnott said the state government's new 7.5 per cent levy on short-stay accommodation announced on September 20 would replace the council's $400 charge which was rolled out in April.

But while the council's $400 charge would go - something the council had always flagged as a possibility - the local law it adopted with rules governing short-stay accommodation would remain.

"We had some pushback about a $400 fee, but this 7.5 per cent is a significant amount," Cr Arnott said.

"It would have been good to have some input and consultation and we haven't had that."

Cr Arnott said the council had been told 25 per cent of what was collected from the new levy would go back to regional areas for affordable housing.

"I would have liked more than that to come back and help us with the additional housing stock because we have a real problem here," she said.

While the government says 25 per cent of the levy will flow into regional areas, its own website also states almost half of the 36,000 short-stay accommodation places were in regional Victoria.

"We've got such a housing shortage. We've got virtually no rental market," Cr Arnott said.

"Warrnambool is at a critical point with the rentals. It's not just bad, it's critical.

"When we've got such a dire, critical rental market we can't attract a workforce with somewhere for them to live."

Cr Arnott said one professional worker she spoke to recently who had moved to Warrnambool for their job couldn't find a rental and had spent three months living in a caravan park.

She said the levy might help free up some short-stay accommodation for long-term rentals - something the council's $400 levy didn't do because it wasn't substantial enough.

Cr Arnott said she sympathised with property owners who would be hit by the new levy.

Wilsons Real Estate's Lucas Wilson, who launched a holiday rental service last summer, said the new levy wasn't a solution to the housing crisis.

Mr Wilson said all the government's measures seemed to be discouraging owning an investment property.

"This is going to be a tax on tourism and holidays," he said.

Mr Wilson said the levy would lead to people getting rid of investment properties, and make tourism and holidaying more expensive for regional Victoria.

He said he was surprised with the rate of the levy. "It's a big chunk," he said.

Mr Wilson said any revenue that went towards building affordable homes was a good thing but why should that be at the expense of holiday makers, tourists and property owners.

Luke McQualter, who manages holiday rentals for Wilsons, said the new levy would be detrimental to the industry with holidaymakers now faced with paying an extra $75 for an average booking.

"Fees and taxes don't fix issues, it adds to them," he said.

"Do they want tourism or not?"

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