00:02Tasmania is home to close to 580,000 people and population growth is low.
00:08If you assume there are about two and a half people per household,
00:13in theory the state should have enough homes to meet demand.
00:17I think it would be safe to say no it doesn't.
00:21Empty homes, holiday homes, short stay accommodation,
00:24a trend towards smaller households and not enough homes being built contribute to a shortage,
00:32which can be seen through the rental vacancy rate.
00:35It's below 1% across the state.
00:38A healthy housing market has 3-5% rental vacancies.
00:42In 2019, 29% of the family income was needed to pay a mortgage.
00:48Last year it was 41%.
00:51In the last 10 years, house prices in Hobart increased by 85%
00:56and in the rest of Tasmania by 95%.
00:59That's a massive increase in house prices.
01:03A tight and expensive housing market has pushed more than 2,000 people into homelessness.
01:09Over 5,500 households are waiting for public housing.
01:14Can you sit down?
01:15That's it.
01:16Em Simic has been an applicant for 18 months.
01:19I spent last winter living in an uninsulated shed with no running water, which was pretty grim.
01:27Had to leave there and was living in my car with my two dogs.
01:31Em is now living in a private women's refuge, but she's hoping for something more permanent.
01:37People who are waiting for housing are people, are humans.
01:41Housing is a basic human right.
01:43Tasmania's Treasury says lower population growth could lead to improved housing affordability.
01:50Nationally, changes to negative gearing and capital gains tax could also have an impact, but that will take time.
01:58For now, building more homes is seen as key to addressing the problem.
02:03The Tasmanian Government has announced plans to underwrite the construction of modular homes, which are quicker to build.
02:10The HIA wants more done to reduce the cost of connecting water and sewerage to residential land.
02:17And so it is for governments, their role, particularly state governments, of building that infrastructure to enable new greenfields and
02:24brownfields developments to occur at a price that households can afford.
02:28More housing so everyone can have a home.
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