The Greens new proposal to help fix worker shortages in towns like Daylesford

During the recent long weekend, Daylesford hospitality owners said while it was great to see so many people, it had been difficult to find staff with the lack of rental properties. It is a problem being felt right across the state, with third-party services like Airbnb keeping potential houses in the short-stay market.

In an effort to bring more houses back to the long-term rental market, the Greens have suggested a new policy to put a cap on how many days a short-term rental can be used.

Victorian Greens leader Samantha Ratnam told The Courier they want to bring more houses into the long-term rental market, push down prices with the increased demand and avoid empty holiday homes during quieter times.

"For the vast majority of the year, many of these properties are lying vacant when families cannot find a roof over their heads," she said.

The 180-day caps are already in place across New South Wales and this year Byron Shire Council moved to reduce the cap to 90 days.

The Victorian Tourism Industry Council and Accommodation Association of Australia have also asked the Victorian government to bring these caps into place.

They argue that the lack of housing is leading to a lack of workers in the regions which limits businesses' ability to work to full capacity for the tourists that want to visit.

"The fact is the short-stay industry is not regulated well enough," Dr Ratnam said.

IN THE NEWS:

"The system is really broken when we have got to a point where local economies cannot find workers because there is not enough housing stock for them to live in."

Dr Ratnam said this type of legislation should have been implemented years ago.

"We are in a housing crisis and the things that governments are using are just not working - we are going to have to try new things."

Have you tried The Courier's app? It can be downloaded here.