How Hobart’s Housing Fix Stacks Up: Comparing Local Solutions to Rising Rents Globally

Hobart’s median weekly rent for a two-bedroom apartment hit a record $560 last month, a jump of nearly 30% since 2020, according to new figures from the Real Estate Institute of Tasmania. The city council says it is doubling efforts to accelerate affordable housing approvals and short-term rental controls as the crisis tightens its grip on inner suburbs like North Hobart and Sandy Bay.

An Urgent Local Push Meets Global Pressures

The rental squeeze is triggering heated debate from Brisbane to Berlin, but it’s especially acute in island cities with limited space and fast tourism growth. For Hobart, the urgency is compounded by thousands of mainland Australians moving south in search of a ‘livable’ city, just as international visitor numbers surge. Tasmanian state government officials met last week at Parliament House on Murray Street to consider a fresh round of investment for the My Home, My Place program, aiming to match the pace of new builds in cities like Halifax, Nova Scotia.

On Elizabeth Street in West Hobart, the Community Housing Limited (CHL) office is fielding record numbers of requests for social housing. Meanwhile, the state’s biggest build-to-rent complex-The Commons Hobart, off Bathurst Street-opened 70 new units in June, with all let in less than a week.

In contrast, cities such as Bergen, Norway and Wellington, New Zealand have set ambitious targets of 1,000+ new affordable dwellings annually to combat similar crises. Wellington City Council recently introduced by-laws capping short-term Airbnb rentals citywide. In Hobart, however, short-stay listings are still over 1,300 inside the 7000 and 7005 postcodes as of May, according to analytics firm AirDNA.

Tasmania’s Numbers: Still Catching Up

The Department of State Growth says 387 affordable homes were built in Greater Hobart over the past twelve months-just over a third of the government’s annual target. The overall rental vacancy rate has sunk to a razor-thin 0.5%, well below the Australian average of 1.3% and the OECD urban average.

Rental affordability is now the main complaint being documented by the Tasmanian Council of Social Service (TasCOSS), which points to average rental price increases in suburbs like Moonah (up 36% since 2022) and Glenorchy.

Meanwhile, tenants are reporting up-front costs exceeding $2,000 for a standard Bond Street unit, and waiting lists for social housing have grown past 4,300 households. By comparison, Rotterdam’s city-run housing allocation service maintains a six-month median wait, despite a larger population base.

What’s Next for Renters and Owners

The Hobart City Council is expected to vote this month on whether to follow Copenhagen’s lead and put a cap on short-term holiday lets in heritage neighbourhoods. Until then, renters are being urged by Consumer, Building and Occupational Services (CBOS) to use the new online RentRight Tasmania portal, which helps tenants document their rights and connect with housing advocates.

Further state government funding announcements are anticipated by August, but peak bodies like Shelter Tas say more urgent action is needed to bring new, genuinely affordable developments to areas like Lenah Valley and South Hobart.

For now, the city’s response is patchy, with local interventions struggling to keep pace with global-level pressures. But as other cities pull harder levers-from rent freezes to outright bans on new short-stay listings-Tasmania’s policy choices in the next six months will reveal if it can strike a better balance for its residents.