Affordable Residential Block Tweaked for Brisbane Suburb

Brisbane Housing Company is planning an affordable residential build in the suburb of Chermside after a boost from the state government.

Updated proposals have been submitted for a 34-unit residential development in the suburb, about 10km from Brisbane’s CBD.

Plans for the site were initially approved in November last year. The latest round of changes include simplification and reduction in the roof garden which “results in a more functional space, with greater amenity”, according to architects Ultra Linea. 

BHC purchased the site, sandwiched between another six-storey building and low-density residential housing, in January 2022.

Situated less than 1km from Chermside Shopping Centre, the development at 5-9 Ethel Street will comprise one and two-bedroom social and affordable homes. 

It is one of the first projects to be delivered as part of the Queensland government’s Housing Investment Growth Initiative through funding approved under the Housing Investment Fund. 

The partnership with the state government’s growth initiative is purportedly “the largest concentrated investment in social and affordable housing in Queensland’s history”. 

A result of the Queensland Housing Summit held towards the end of 2022, the initiative aims to deliver 8365 social and affordable homes. 

As part of this pledge, the Housing Investment Fund was boosted to $2 billion to provide subsidies, one-off capital grants and other support to encourage developers to partner to develop, finance and operate additional social and affordable housing supply in Queensland.

The Ethel Street site is the latest in a run of affordable developments by the Brisbane Housing Company, which submitted multiple projects in Chermside to the council last year.