The Property Council attended yesterday’s Queensland Housing Summit and reinforced that the crisis could only be solved through solutions that eased pressure across the entire housing continuum. With 97 per cent of Queensland’s housing stock owned by the private sector, the Premier acknowledged that it would be essential for Government to enable developers to deliver more housing supply.
The format of the day saw keynote addresses, panel discussions and focused break out sessions. Importantly, there was a desire across all stakeholder groups to look at bold solutions to address the current crisis and long-term issues of housing supply.
Stakeholders at the summit were drawn from across the political spectrum and included the Queensland Opposition, the Greens, representatives from local and state Government as well as community housing providers and the private sector.
A range of announcements were also made at the Summit, including:
- The establishment of an online portal to collect ideas to respond to the housing crisis
- An immediate audit of State Government landholdings to be conducted by the Department of State Development, Infrastructure, Local Government and Planning
- Investigation of opportunities to deliver greater utilisation of pre-fab building techniques
- An expansion of the Housing Investment Fund to $2 billion (will generate $130 million for social and affordable housing)
- A review of the South-east Queensland Regional Plan to commence in September
- A commitment to cut red tape to respond to accommodation issues during disasters
The acknowledgment that governments need to work constructively with developers and educate the community was also a key theme at the Summit.
A full outcomes report from the Summit will be tabled in Parliament in November.
The Summit follows the release of A home for every Queenslander – the Property Council’s housing position paper, which outlines both the challenges and many solutions to address Queensland’s housing crisis.
If you have any questions pertaining to the Housing Summit, please do not hesitate to reach out to our advocacy team at [email protected].