THE Committee for Frankston and Mornington Peninsula have written to the CEO of Homes Victoria, Simon Newport, seeking clarification on whether revenue from the proposed short-stay levy will be used to alleviate the housing and accommodation crisis on the Mornington Peninsula.
The 7.5% short-stay levy is proposed through the Short Stay Levy Bill 2024 and, if adopted, will be applied on short-term accommodation across Victoria.
In September 2023, when the state government announced the proposed levy, it was suggested the estimated $60 million generated would be spent on housing projects across Victoria. It is believed the Mornington Peninsula has over 4,500 homes listed on the Airbnb platform alone. It makes the peninsula the highest short-stay accommodation rental area in the state, dwarfing the Surf Coast (2,254) and City of Greater Geelong (2,314). The southern peninsula accounts for more than half the peninsula’s listings, putting a strain on infrastructure, services and housing supply during peak periods.
The committee’s CEO, Josh Sinclair, said “With 25% of the revenue generated from this levy reserved for regional Victoria, the remaining 75% for metropolitan Melbourne is likely to be spent in key activity centres close to Melbourne’s CBD”. “Given the Mornington Peninsula Shire is not designated regional, we are concerned that no funding will be delivered to the Mornington Peninsula Shire under this program.”
In their 19 September letter to Newport, the committee said “Our region has the second worst homelessness rate (i.e. for those sleeping rough) in Melbourne, beaten only by City of Wyndham. This makes us the fourth worst performing local government area by this measure in Victoria”. “With a significant amount of short-stay accommodation available on the Mornington Peninsula, we expect our region to do a lot of the ‘heavy lifting’ when it comes to revenue raising for this levy.
“The Committee is seeking clarification from Homes Victoria that funding generated from the short-stay levy will be delivered to our region to help address the housing and accommodation crisis on the Mornington Peninsula.”
The committee have not received a response from Homes Victoria.
First published in the Mornington News – 1 October 2024
