The greater Sunshine Coast area of Australia, which includes the resort area of Noosa, has an estimated 10,000 short-term rental (STR) properties and triple the number of people and families waiting for social housing. Everybody's Home, a national advocate for affordable housing that lobbies the federal government to increase housing stock across the country, says that STRs are not to blame for the region's housing shortage. "What we see with these homes is that they're often the types of places that would otherwise be holiday homes," said spokesperson Maiy Azize, referring to the rentals. "They're definitely not going to be affordable accommodation for the types of workers we looked at." The campaign's "Priced Out" report found rents across the greater Sunshine Coast were too high for most essential workers to survive. "What we really need is more affordable housing, more affordable rentals," she said.
ABC News (Australia) (05/09/23) Owen Jacques