Bushfires and floods have created housing shortages in many areas across Australia with some markets hitting crisis levels, said Angus Raine, Executive Chairman of Raine & Horne.

In the tropical far north of Queensland, the idyllic town of Mossman, which is just 21 minutes north of holiday mecca Port Douglas is in the grip of a housing crisis, with rental vacancy rates below 0.6%.

“Lack of housing is forcing people to live out of cars while local charitable organisation scramble to provide emergency housing,” Mr Raine said.

“It’s not much better in Central Queensland where families in Rockhampton are being forced to live in tents while they wait for accommodation.

“This is a crisis that doesn’t have a massive window to fix. These people need help now and Councils need to look at some more immediate short-term fixes such as allowing homeowners to add granny flats to their properties.

To support this measure, Mr Raine is urging governments to consider offering subsidies to encourage homeowners to add granny flats.

“More grant flats will help address some of the housing crisis, while homeowners who add a granny flat won’t harm the value of their properties either.”

Mr Raine said dongas, the transportable buildings, often used on remote work sites or as tourist accommodation could be used to provide safer and more secure emergency housing. 

For all your real estate sales and property management needs in Darwin, and Palmerston or to find out about the auction process, contact Raine & Horne Darwin on 08 8941 8941.