Welcome to Australia's hottest holiday home market
The area has long had holiday properties, but these are on the rise. More than half of the homes, 53 percent, were uninhabited on the eve of last August’s Census, up from 46.5 percent in 2001. The population increased by 976 people to 5012 at that time – and more than 600 since 2016 – and the number of private homes counted increased by more from 1400 to 4,722 houses. Sea-changers have been drawn to Tasmanian cities such as Bicheno. Census data shows the median rent was $250 per week in August, up from $160 in 2011. The proportion of tenants putting more than 30 percent of income on rent more than quadrupled at that time, reaching 31.7 percent. Board general manager Greg Ingham is well aware of the housing shortage. He had rented a one-bedroom cabin in a caravan park with his wife since moving to the area nearly two years ago. Glamorgan-Spring Bay Council general manager Greg Ingham and mayor Robert Young. “I love living in the community I work in … and it’s th...
