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As Australia grapples with the need for more housing, millions of spare bedrooms across the country are believed to be sitting empty. But some homeowners, who want to rent rooms out, say they're put off by concerns about tax implications.

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00:02This suburban homeowner considers herself one of the lucky ones.
00:06Our kids are now grown up and leaving home and we've got all this spare space downstairs.
00:11So ideally we'd like to be a part of the solution, help people out who are in housing distress.
00:18The Brisbane mum would like to offer some of her spare rooms as affordable rentals but worries about the...
00:24Cost and complexity, capital gains tax implications, income tax and also the complexity of regulations navigating that.
00:33They're actually the main deterrence.
00:35A property economist believes more people would rent out a spare room if tax rules were clarified or international examples
00:43were followed,
00:43such as where the government defines a weekly threshold for rent or board which doesn't attract tax.
00:49New housing supply is a long way off and we do have a rental crisis.
00:54We need to be providing more affordable housing options to people.
00:57So this is a way of dealing with a cost of living crisis, a rental affordability crisis and we've also
01:03got a loneliness epidemic.
01:04Advocates acknowledge these kind of boarding or sharing arrangements aren't for everyone, but argue those who want to do so
01:11should be able to.
01:12I think a government being able to provide clear information to them about how they're protected, that would really help
01:18more people step into home sharing.
01:20The federal government didn't respond to specific questions about clarifying tax rules for renting spare rooms.
01:27.
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