Social housing gets boost with 1200 new homes to be announced
Up to 1200 new social and affordable homes will be built in Queensland as the state government faces pressure to ease housing stress on the eve of the budget.
Public funding for the new homes will come from the returns of the state’s $1 billion housing investment fund, announced as part of last year’s budget.
The projects will be delivered through a partnership between Brisbane Housing Company (BHC) and the Queensland Investment Corporation (QIC).
“When applications opened for the $1 billion Housing Investment Fund, we told the market we were seeking proposals which identified new solutions to deliver housing for vulnerable Queenslanders,” Treasurer Cameron Dick said.
“(The partnership) will see BHC leverage QIC’s strong track record of securing and managing institutional investment to deliver new social and affordable housing.”
The announcement was welcomed by the Queensland Council of Social Service, but chief executive Aimee McVeigh said there was more to be done.
“There are Queensland women and children right now living in cars, tents and motels because there is nowhere else to go, there are elderly people couch surfing, there are children growing up in domestic violence shelters because there is nowhere else to go,” she said.
“We don’t just need a record funding announcement, we need sustained funding and more houses built at a much faster pace.”
The latest state government figures showed more than 50,000 Queenslanders were waiting on the social housing register, QCOSS said.
The Liberal National opposition said the investment fund was delivering “a minuscule return at a time when Queenslanders just cannot get a roof over their head”.
“You can’t see our rental vacancy rates, and see 50,000 Queenslanders on a waiting list, and not be alarmed,” Opposition Leader David Crisafulli said.
Construction of the first seven projects under the new partnership would begin between 2023 and 2025, and deliver about half of the 1200 new homes, Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said.
“Queensland’s population is growing. We believe every Queenslander deserves a safe home to live in and a secure roof over their head,” she said on Facebook on Monday.
The combined capital value is estimated to be $250 million and the projects will support 225 construction jobs.
Last month the government announced the first two projects from the Housing Investment Fund, in Chermside and Redcliffe.
