Just Home Margaret River call on people to help others experience homelessness

Margaret River advocacy group Just Home is calling on people to help out through donations or philanthropic partnership or even donating land.

Just Home works alongside people with lived experience and stakeholders in the sector to advocate for change.

Just Home program manager Alex Hughes said solutions to homelessness and the housing crisis was a community issue.

"Just Home Margaret River is passionate about uniting our efforts to increase our impact," they said.

"In 2016, the census classified AMR as "severely unaffordable".

"Five years on and the 2021 census is reporting the average rental price has increased by $50 per week.

"This is on top of the 27 per cent of homes in the region (holiday homes) sitting empty, despite the housing crisis."

Alongside Just Home, Shire of Augusta Margaret River president Paula Cristoffanini said the council was concerned about the issue.

"There are reports of baby boomers retiring to their holiday homes in increasing numbers and the Census suggests that could be the case in our Shire as the cohort of people aged 65+ is the group that showed the largest increase," she said.

"This group grew by 44 percent since the last Census in 2016.

"Everyone around Australia is looking for answers to housing pressures.

"In Augusta Margaret River we have been thinking about this since the beginning of the pandemic when the increase in population and the housing pressures became obvious."

Cr Cristoffanini said local governments were not in the position to address the issue and that it was up to federal and state governments.

"Council has in the past instituted policy measures to limit short term accommodation and actively engage in compliance check of short term accommodation," she said.

"The issues are complex and affect those on both sides of the equation - those trying to secure a property and those who rely on tourism.

"It also affects the agricultural sector, businesses, service providers and employers more generally as it is difficult to employ someone if there is no housing for them."

There are a few different ways that you can support Just Home: