At least 560 residential properties have sat empty for three years in Launceston, Hobart and Glenorchy council areas, according to data from TasWater, prompting a call for a vacant property tax to be introduced.
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The Tenants' Union of Tasmania obtained for the data under Right to Information laws, asking TasWater for the number of residential premises that have used less than 10 per cent of the annual average water usage for three consecutive years. A similar method is used in Victoria to determine vacant properties.
Tenants' Union principal solicitor Benedict Bartl said this meant the figure for Tasmania was almost certainly an under-estimate.
Launceston had 256 properties - or 0.9 per cent of the city's total - under the average usage for the three years, 457 for two of the years, and 456 for one year.
The union decided to obtain data just for these areas due to a lack of shacks in cities.
Mr Bartl said the government repeatedly talks about increasing "supply" as a way of easing housing stress, but there was an easier solution that could be brought in instantly.
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"The answer is staring them in the face. Encourage those people with empty properties to make them available to people now," he said.
The Tenants' Union called for a 1 per cent tax on empty homes - as a percentage of their value - in the cities unless a valid reason was given. Such policies exist in Melbourne and in Vancouver in Canada.
"What we really need to do is recognise that housing at the moment is a scarce resource and we should be pulling all levers to ensure there is adequate housing for everybody that needs it," Mr Bartl said.
The government has promised to build 3500 new social housing properties by 2027. There are 4388 applicants on the housing priority waiting list.
Housing Minister Michael Ferguson said the government would not be looking to bring in an empty homes tax, and that adding "supply" of new dwellings was its way of addressing the housing crisis.
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