00:02Lisa treasures the quiet serenity of her Phillip Island holiday home.
00:07To get fresh air, to hear the birds, to see the wallabies, that's what I love.
00:12It's where she hopes to retire. In the meantime it's rented out through an online short stay platform to help
00:19with costs.
00:20We thought we could just share the home with other people and let them enjoy it until we're fully ready
00:26to move down here.
00:27But a rising fee is making that retirement dream more costly.
00:32The Bass Coast Shire Council charges an annual registration fee for short stay accommodation like leases.
00:40In July that fee almost doubled to $600 per year, the highest in the state.
00:48It's even more for larger homes, now up to $900.
00:53People aren't necessarily doing this as a full time job.
00:58Bass Coast is one of a handful of Victorian councils which collect annual fees from short stay rental providers.
01:06The state government has also charged a booking levy since the start of last year.
01:11Communities here on the Bass Coast are facing shortages in long term housing.
01:15But the council says these fees aren't about pushing holiday rentals out of the market.
01:21It's really loss of amenity to our permanent residents.
01:25So the burden is on them, you know, the waste, the rubbish, the anti-social behaviour.
01:29But rising costs for summer accommodation providers has some locals worried.
01:34So our concern is that the fees will get to a point where it's just not going to be viable
01:39and people will no longer provide those houses for accommodation.
01:43And if that's the case, our accommodation problem gets worse.
01:46A careful balance as summer approaches.
01:49Let's go.
01:52Let's go.
01:53You
