2022-11-14 GC Agenda - Item 4 - Attachment 1 - Short Term Accommodation Monitoring Report 2022

2020-2021 period with some properties exiting the permanent rental market for owner
occupation. Demand for housing and permanent rentals far exceeded supply.
Since the HNA2021 was prepared a number of increases to interest rates have also occurred,
affecting the housing market, and state and international borders reopened.
The 2021 Housing Needs Assessment was prepared prior to the 2021 census data release
and therefore relied on statistics from the 2016 census.


3.3.1.1 Housing characteristics
Despite changes to the broader housing market described above, overall, the key
characteristics of Noosa’s housing stock and household structure did not change between the
HNA 2017 and the HNA2021. Small households and larger homes of 3+ bedrooms continued
to dominate housing supply and demand, with a range of housing options not being met:
       Housing stock in Noosa is noticeably dominated by medium to large detached houses
       plus semi-attached or attached housing of at least three bedrooms. Older units are
       more likely to be two bedrooms.
       … Housing, in all forms, is limited and as demand outstrips supply, more and more
       members of the community struggle to find housing suitable to their needs and
       circumstances.
       As the cost of land has significantly increased over the last couple of decades, the
       construction cost of individual dwellings has also noticeably increased with a smaller
       number of high-end units being developed in preference over a higher number of small
       modest units. In some cases, lots which could yield two or three dwellings are
       developed for one new house and separate adjoining house blocks have been bought
       and consolidated to allow for a larger home and outdoor recreation space.
       …A larger floor plate results in more bedrooms, more bathrooms, multiple living areas,
       outdoor entertainment areas and a double lock up garage.
       Conversely the majority of households are made up of just one or two people and there
       is no expectation this would change. However even small households with the means
       prefer larger dwellings for both resale investment and for the ability to accommodate
       guests.


3.3.1.2 Housing supply
There is some tension between the HNA2017 and HNA2021 statistics in relation to number of
total private dwellings and occupied private dwellings, with the number of total private
dwellings decreasing between 2011 and 2016, which is not the real case. There appears to
have been changes to some statistical division boundaries and variation interpretation in data
collection particularly around the inclusion or exclusion of dwellings deemed as visitor only.
Recent 2021 census statistics on occupied and unoccupied private dwellings have also been
included in this section, which weren’t available at the time of the HNA2021 preparation.


Occupied dwellings and dwelling structure in HNA2021
The HNA2021 identified a total of 24,815 total private dwellings, 18.8% of which were
identified as unoccupied on census night, suggesting these properties are left vacant or used
as visitor / short term accommodation, and not occupied by permanent residents. Despite the
tensions between the statistics in the HNA2017 and HNA2021, this suggests an increase in
unoccupied dwellings over the last 5 years.



                                                                                        pg. 90
Noosa Council Monitoring Report 2022/23