Jessica has been living out of a caravan in George Town with her three children and dog since July 2020.
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With a budget of $400 per week, she has applied for about 40 rentals over the last two months in George Town and Launceston.
"I've applied for everything," she said.
Despite having full-time employment, a solid rental history and excellent references, the "unsuccessful application" emails keep arriving into her inbox.
"It's coming into winter and we're starting to get worried about being in a caravan," she said.
"I'll rent anything right now. Most people will take it even if it is run down and full of black mould or whatever."
With vacancy rates declining as the cost of rent soars, Jessica, who asked not to be identified, is one of many Tasmanians locked out of the rental market.
A 2020-21 University of Tasmania report into the Tasmanian housing market found short-stay platforms had radically altered the residential housing market, taking formerly long-term properties off the market.
Differentiating short-stay rates has been pushed by social affairs advocates for some time, and is now being considered by councils around the state.
In a motion proposed earlier in the week, Hobart Deputy Lord Mayor Helen Burnet flagged setting differentiated rates for landlords renting their properties out as short-stay accommodation.
The proposal could mean property owners would pay higher council rates for rentals used for short-stay accommodation.
Similarly, Launceston acting mayor Danny Gibson said at the recent Local Government Association of Tasmania general meeting, the City of Launceston supported a motion from Break O'Day Council, which proposed the LGAT "investigate mechanisms to enable councils to differentially rate vacation".
While no firm proposal has been put forward by councils, they concept has been backed by advocacy groups.
TasCOSS chief executive Adrienne Picone said addressing the housing crisis required pulling every lever available.
"We all know the impact the short-stay accommodation market has had on rental properties across Tasmania," she said.
"The number of rentals in Tasmania has halved since 2014, and of those only eight per cent are affordable for people on low incomes.
"So we really need to be looking at different ways that we can alleviate the problem and start to ensure that we get more rental properties into the market.
"It's one lever that we can pull. It's not going to solve all the problems, but we really need to ensure that we're looking at things like this and pulling all the levers that we possibly can to make sure all Tasmanians have a roof over their heads."
Acting chief executive of the Saint Vincent de Paul Society Les Baxter said he was supportive of any action that would increase housing stock for people in need.
He said although it was important to build new housing stock to be occupied by homeless and disadvantaged people, it took time.
"Potentially something like this could make housing available faster," he said.
"Any initiative that really increases the amount of output that's available for people that need long-term accommodation, and people that are in housing distress is something that we would support."
Minister for State Development, Construction and Housing, Michael Ferguson said taxing short-stay accommodation "would not magically create more housing or resolve the current shortage of affordable rental accommodation, particularly in urban centres".
He drew attention to the state government's Ancillary Dwelling Grants Program, providing $10,000 grants for applicants to invest into the construction of 250 dwellings for long-term rentals.
But Jessica said initiatives that grants like these gave money to developers, rather than people in need. Despite owning a plot of land, she said she did not have a hope of building.
"The government's gone the wrong way around it," she said.
"They're paying people who already have money."
Meanwhile, when asked about the issue at a press conference on Saturday, Premier Peter Gutwein reiterated the state government was working to increase housing supply.
"By increasing supply we'll put downward pressure on house prices and importantly, rent," he said.
He drew attention to the federal government's Home Builder Grant.
"The steps that the federal government have taken over the last two years to work with the state in terms of increasing supply is having the effect that we wanted it to, and that is that we're seeing more homes being built," he said.
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