Victoria will become the first state in Australia to introduce an Airbnb levy and will build 800,000 homes over the next decade in a sweep of new housing policies the Andrews Government will bring in to address the state’s housing crisis.Premier Daniel Andrews unveiled his government’s housing statement on Wednesday morning which represents the most significant change to the state’s housing policies in decades. The statement sets out a commitment to build 80,000 new homes every year for 10 years around the state to address low supply. “What’s more important than somewhere to live?” Andrews said.“Nothing is. We know that we’re simply not building enough houses right now.”To deliver the homes, the government will cut approval times for developers seeking to build social or affordable homes and rezone 45 unused government land sites in Melbourne and regional Victoria for development. A number of “priority precincts” close to the CBD and public transport have also been identified for new builds, including the Docklands, Fishermans Bend, Footscray, East Werribee, Parkville and Sunshine.This comes one week after the Federal Labor Government’s Housing Australia Future Fund Bill passed parliament. The HAFF will fund the build of 30,000 new homes around the country over five years and has been criticised by the Greens for being inadequate in addressing Australia’s housing and rental crisis.To boost housing supply, the government has also announced a 7.5 per cent levy will be applied to revenue on all short-stay rental platforms, including Airbnb and Stayz, from 2025."In Victoria, there are more than 36,000 short-stay accommodation places — with almost half of these in regional Victoria. More than 29,000 of those places are entire homes," Andrews said. "These are places that cannot be used for longer-term accommodation or rented out on fixed-term agreements — so it makes sense that they should provide some benefit toward the places that can."Airbnb has hit back and said while it welcomed any policy that would help construct more homes, the levy was too high."A rate this high could have a negative impact on the appeal of Victoria as a tourism destination, also penalising everyday Victorians seeking a local holiday when many are already grappling with the cost of living," Airbnb Australia and New Zealand head of public policy Michael Crosby said.Victoria Tourism Industry Council CEO Felicia Mariani also said the tax would be “disastrous” for the state’s tourism industry."Let's use an example of $400 per night, on an average day of three nights," she said."Well that's $1,200, a 7.5 per cent tax on that is a $90 fee. That is not an insignificant fee that we're asking visitors to the state to pay."But Andrews said the levy was modest and fair, and the money the government made from the tax would go to Homes Victoria to pay for new social and affordable homes.See more from Australia Today on vice.com and on TikTok.Aleksandra Bliszczyk is the Deputy Editor of VICE Australia. Follow her on Instagram.
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