As the housing shortage continues in the Wimmera, the owner of a caravan rental and renovation business in Stawell says he has been swamped with demand. Key points Wimmera’s housing crisis has been a boon for a Stawell caravan hire and repair business Workers moving to the area are boosting rental and purchasing demand The state government is hinting relief is on the way With local vacancy rates estimated at just 0.1 per cent, Keenan Quinsee said families, workers and people wanting to buy homes were seeking mobile homes to live in. Mr Quinsee said he had to stop advertising his business, Grampians Caravan Hire, for the past three months to catch up on all the orders he had taken. “We have to get them all there and ready in our workshop, and we were just getting inundated with inquiries and people needing a van straight away,” he said. “There has always been a demand, but it’s gotten bigger. We haven’t even had to do paid advertising. “It’s families [inquiring]. It’s people moving from Melbourne, moving up to the area, who can’t find a house to buy, let alone rent while they [look around to] buy. “I know Halls Gap hospitality businesses struggle to get accommodation because there is no rental accommodation for workers.” SQM Research estimated there were five rental properties available in postcode 3380 as of June 17, with three listed for less than 30 days. Mr Quinsee, who also owns the Pleasant Creek historical complex in Stawell, has had to redeploy staff to help cope with demand at his caravan business. Find more local news Tell us your location and find more local and information Solutions teased The Victorian government is looking into whether existing legislation limits how much housing can be built in agricultural communities. Meanwhile, if elected next year, the state’s Opposition has already committed to a program that would fast-track 50,000 lots of land across regional Victoria in its first two years in office. Speaking in Ballarat on Monday, Planning Minister Richard Wynne said demand was eclipsing the supply of new housing in regions such as the Wimmera. Planning Minister Richard Wynne visited Mildura last year to look at small semi-rural lots. Jeremy Story Carter ‘Sick of treading water’ Small business owners in parts of regional Victoria are opting to close their doors following the combined effects of four COVID lockdowns in the state.  “We are looking at some amendments to the planning scheme, particularly as it relates to opportunities to provide more housing in farming communities, so we will have more to say when we have finalised [that],” he said. Meanwhile, the Wimmera Development Association is working to address the region’s housing shortage through a newly created Community Housing Taskforce. Project manager Mark Fletcher said the taskforce was seeking funding in two stages but that even short-term solutions would take months to get going. “We are looking at undertaking work with [the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning] about land use capacity and capability across the region, understanding what lots are available for development in townships and ways we can get hold of some,” Mr Fletcher said. “The other thing we are looking at doing early in the new financial year is working on setting some realistic housing, population and jobs targets for the region.”