A highly anticipated report on the outcomes of a state-wide housing summit has been criticised for a lack of long-term solutions to tackle the crisis.
The report contains a series of initiatives the Queensland government will action to address housing strain and supply issues after a summit was held in October with 200 people across all levels of government, the private sector and stakeholder groups.
Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk announced in parliament that $56 million would be spent on new housing supply and support initiatives which includes more financial support for renters experiencing severe rental stress.
"I stand by our government's commitment to do what is needed to ensure that every Queenslander can have access to a safe, secure and affordable home," the premier said.
"I want to be clear that there is more work to be done to achieve this but we are taking this important step forward."
A new housing delivery board of government director-generals will also be set up to oversee the delivery of the report's outcomes.
QCOSS CEO Aimee McVeigh said the government's summit response delivered short-term relief, but did little for the thousands of people on the social housing wait list.
"Tenancy sustainment, targeted loans and grants will provide valued short-term relief to Queenslander struggling to pay their rent in the middle of the current cost-of-living crisis," she said.
"They do not provide a long-term plan to build sufficient homes for the 45,958 Queenslanders currently waiting on the social housing register.
"To end the housing crisis, the Palaszczuk government must increase supply of houses and exponentially increase the rate at which they have been building social and affordable homes."
According to the Queensland Audit Office there was 30,922 households on the social housing register in March, with the wait list having grown by 78 per cent over the last four years.
The housing department intends to begin building 5,600 new social and affordable homes by mid-2027.
There were 74,133 social housing dwellings in Queensland as of March this year.
Relief for renters among outcomes from summit
The state government outlined two main areas — housing supply and housing support – which the initiatives from the summit would target.
To address housing supply issues, the state government will continue an audit of state-owned land and buildings which could be repurposed for crisis accommodation or social housing.
Deputy Premier Steven Miles said the audit would continue for another three months with hundreds of properties being reviewed.
"Hundreds of potential sites have been reviewed, of which seven have been shortlisted for further investigations in Southport, Varsity Lakes, Fortitude Valley, Wynnum, Bundaberg, Mango Hill and Albion," he said.
The state will also expand of the role of the government's land-use planning and property development agency, Economic Development Queensland (EDQ), to focus on delivering more social housing.
In addition, $48.5 million will go towards a range of housing relief measures which includes:
- $11.7 million to help about 2,500 renters maintain their tenancies
- $10 million to expand private rental assistance products and services for people experiencing severe rental stress
- $10 million to deliver more temporary emergency accommodation with onsite support
- $8.5 million in additional support for after-hours homelessness outreach support service in Cairns, Townsville, the Sunshine Coast, Gold Coast and Brisbane
- $3.3 million for cost of living relief including emergency food relief
No details have been released about how those experiencing housing stress can access the support or when it would be made available.
Push to advance rent-to-build schemes
Property Council of Australia's Queensland executive director Jen Williams said the government's move to look at declaring new Priority Development Areas – which are parcels of land within Queensland identified for accelerated development — would result in more land coming into the market in the future.
"Some of those [Priority Development Areas] house up to 50,000 people," Ms Williams said.
"We don't know details of it yet but if those come online that means there will be more land and more houses for more people."
Ms Williams said the council would have liked to see the focus on "build to rent" actioned immediately.
The scheme is a pilot project between the state government and private sector to build apartment blocks designed for long-term renters.
Two build-to-rent apartments have been built so far at Fortitude Valley and Newstead in Brisbane, with about 240 dwellings to be provided at a discounted rent.
The Real Estate Institute of Queensland (REIQ) CEO Antonia Mercorella said the immediate financial support would be a welcome relief for those doing it tough, but the body wanted more action on housing supply issues.
"While we had hoped to see some more firm commitments on the supply side of the equation at this stage, we look forward to seeing further detail emerge and the 'areas for further work' progressed with the same sense of urgency as the summit," she said.
But LNP's shadow minister for housing Tim Mander said the plan was just a "glossy brochure" which showed the government had "no sense of urgency" to address housing pressures.
"There's not one thing in this report that will see an extra roof over a vulnerable Queenslander before Christmas," he said.
