Vacant student accommodation at a Brisbane university campus will be converted into emergency lodgings, as experts and the government work to tackle Queensland's housing crisis that is leaving people in severe financial distress.
Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk announced 200 unused beds at Griffith University's Mount Gravatt campus had been offered up for use, as she urged other organisations with vacant properties or land to come forward to assist, amid construction and population pressures.
Other ideas floated at Friday's roundtable meeting with stakeholders included a proposal to tax vacant properties to incentivise their use of homes, and a statewide tax on Airbnb's.
These suggestions and others will be considered at a state housing summit on October 20.
Ms Palaszczuk thanked Griffith University for approaching her government after identifying the vacant student accommodation.
"We are now going to work with them over the next six months to make these rooms available to people and service providers," she said.
"We're now asking Queenslanders out there, businesses, organisations, church groups — if you have any proprieties or land that can help us, we will work with you."
Deputy Premier Steven Miles said in an environment where there is a shortage of builders and supplies, and costs are escalating, "the best early gains are in re-purposing under utilised buildings that are already built".
The Catholic Archdiocese of Brisbane has also assessed its property and identified about 87 blocks of land or sites that could provide an opportunity for housing.
"We will certainly look at the contribution we can make through use of land or properties that can support social justice outcomes and further our mission," Archbishop Mark Coleridge said in an earlier statement.
Ms Palaszczuk said she recognised these were very complex issues but said there had been "excellent conversations today".
"Looking at those unused buildings, also looking at provision of land, we also had discussions about pre-fabricated homes that can readily become available — I'll be looking at some of those over the next couple of weeks," she said.
"The other thing we recognise is families and people want to live in their communities.
"Another great idea that was raised today that we'll explore more is in the UK, 25 per cent of the housing has to be for affordable or social housing of a new development — that's a great idea, so we want to explore that further as well."
Housing crisis 'is ludicrous and crazy'
But pensioner George Parkyn, 66, said the housing summit was a "waste of time and money".
"It makes me very sad — I sometimes think what is there to life. I feel totally abandoned," he said.
"We need help now. It is getting worse every day. Nothing is going to be fixed quickly."
Mr Parkyn had to borrow from friends to help pay for a rent hike of $88 a week for his modest Gladstone home in April.
He was then forced to move to a cheaper, smaller place five doors away in the same estate for $194 a week, but that too is about to go up by another $26.
The one-time tourism manager, who experienced mental health problems, said most weeks he ended up with just $5 after paying rent, his bills and buying food.
Mr Parkyn lives in one of more than 8,000 Queensland properties provided through the National Rental Affordability Scheme (NRAS).
The federal scheme provides 22,000 properties nationwide, but ends in November 2024, forcing renters out onto the open market.
"This situation is ludicrous and crazy. How do you think that makes us feel? We will be out on the street," Mr Parkyn said.
He has written to more than 40 politicians about the housing crisis inviting them to walk in his shoes.
"Only one rang me," he said.
"It is sad and disheartening that they can build a COVID village in six months, but can't fix the housing problem."
He said his Beagle rescue dog Baxter kept him going, but said he still had "black days" when the bills piled up and he could not pay them.
"What do you do?" Mr Parkyn said.
2023 construction pipeline already at capacity
Deputy Premier Steven Miles said while the refurbishment of the student accommodation in Brisbane's south would take some months, it was still quicker than constructing a new building and would ease the pressure sooner.
Treasurer Cameron Dick said the current pipeline of construction was at capacity and the Housing Industry Association (HIA) told the meeting they had 12 months of work already on the books, carrying through all of 2023.
Mr Dick said other issues raised included a proposal to tax vacant properties to incentivise their use as homes, as well as a suggestion from the Brisbane Lord Mayor for a state-wide tax on Airbnb's.
Asked if he supported the idea to tax vacant properties, Mr Dick would not answer, saying he was only relaying some of the suggestions put forward.
Brisbane Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner, Queensland Council of Social Service (QCOSS) CEO Aimee McVeigh and Real Estate Institute of Queensland (REIQ) CEO Antonia Mercorella were among the attendees at today's meeting.
On Tuesday, Ms Palaszczuk announced the state government would hold an initial meeting — followed by a summit — to try and tackle multiple housing issues, compounded by massive interstate migration, building supply constraints, and flood events.
It followed growing calls from the housing and social services sector for the government to convene a summit, as about 220,000 people are expected to move to the state over the next five years.
