For eight years there has been an under investment in infrastructure that would have opened new opportunities for young people to get into the housing market and either buy their first home or find a suitable rental.
The only way to fix Queensland’s Housing Crisis is to build more homes and increase housing supply over the short, medium, and long terms.
But the chaotic approach of the Palaszczuk Labor Government on housing policy has resulted in an abysmal record at doing just that.
Between 2015 and the most recent data of September 2022, residential building approvals fell by 33 percent across the state.
Is means there are nearly 60,000 fewer homes available for Queenslanders than if the Palaszczuk Government kept pace with 2015 approval numbers.
As a result, the predictable housing crush has seen rents rise while the waiting list for social housing has grown by more than 70% over the past two years.
There are nearly 50,000 Queenslanders currently on the social housing waiting list. It was under 20,000 in 2015. Yet, across the last five years, the State Government has only been able to increase the number of social houses by less than 2%.
The State Government claimed they’d delivered an extra 4,000 social houses, but only 1,395 homes were built according to audited figures.
Our solutions to help ease the housing crisis is to:
- DELIVER more residential lots (and therefore more homes) by working closely with local councils to identify areas for targeted and responsible development and build the necessary supporting infrastructure for these communities to grow and thrive.
- UNLOCK the Community Housing sector in Queensland. These organisations are ready made to help house the vulnerable, but have their hands tied behind their back due to the current policy settings of the Labor Government.
- PLAN appropriately for the delivery of social housing so the supply of social housing is able to meet demand.
There’s been a flood of private investors also leaving the private rental sector, resulting in fewer homes to rent. This is a major issue and it’s time there was tax and regulatory stability to ensure confidence for private investors are attracted to re-invest.