Landlord rates could double under this councillor’s contentious housing proposal

Landlords in the city’s inner north could have their rates doubled, while owner-occupiers and local businesses could get a 50 per cent reduction, under a contentious plan to address the housing crisis set to be debated by a Melbourne council this week.

Merri-bek councillor James Conlan and resident Colin Aslin. Both want to see the council explore charging landlords higher rates and discounting rates for owner-occupiers and local businesses.The council takes in the suburbs of Brunswick, Coburg, Glenroy and Fawkner.

But the Australian Landlords Association president Andrew Kent said it was “oversimplistic” to assume the sale of a current rental property would mean it would be affordable for a first home buyer.Independent economist Chris Richardson said the focus on landlords was “missing the point”, which came down to lack of supply.

“From our perspective, vacancy is the biggest issue in areas like Merri-bek and state-based vacancy taxes are more effective mechanisms to encourage housing onto the market,” Prosper Australia spokeswoman Rayna Fahey said.

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