Palaszczuk’s Summit to Tackle Queensland Housing Crisis

Unlocking land for residential development as well as fast-tracking social and affordable housing will be among “key actions” on the table at next month’s Queensland housing summit.

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has called the summit with a view to fixing the state’s escalating housing crisis and putting a roof over the head of every Queenslander.

It will be preceded by a roundtable talk between key government and non-government stakeholders on Friday.

With 50,000 people moving to Queensland from interstate so far this year, the housing squeeze is only expected to worsen with federal government plans to increase the intake of skilled migrants from overseas.

“Affordable housing is critical to maintaining our great Queensland lifestyle,” Palaszczuk said. “All levels of government have a role to play in improving the current housing situation.”

Property Council Queensland executive director Jen Williams welcomed the announcement of the summit as the housing supply issue “required the alignment of all stakeholders to formulate a sustainable and lasting solution”.

“Housing is the number one challenge many communities around Australia are grappling with, and it is particularly critical in south-east Queensland due to our region’s extraordinary population growth,” she said.

Recent research by the Property Council indicated that up to 220,000 people from Melbourne and Sydney could move to Queensland in the next five years—the equivalent of the populations of Townsville and Gladstone combined.

“All facets of the housing spectrum must be considered at the summit—from social and affordable housing, right through to boosting the delivery of a range of typologies of privately-owned dwellings and rental accommodation,” Williams said.

Housing Minister Leeanne Enoch said population growth has outpaced delivery of new land supply in Queensland, put unprecedented pressure on the private rental market and impacted social housing.

“Action is needed by all to address critical housing shortages across the state,” she said.

“The housing sector is calling for positive action and solutions, and we know building more social housing is only one piece of the puzzle—better strategy from councils is also needed to make an impact on the housing ecosystem.”

Queensland’s housing shortage is such that there are more than 27,000 households on the waiting list for government housing.

A number of measures have previously been mooted to alleviate the crisis, including a Private Members Bill tabled by state Greens MP Amy MacMahon to freeze rents in the state for two years.

Friday’s roundtable will bring together the Queensland Premier and key government ministers with the Brisbane Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner, Local Government Association of Queensland and non-government stakeholders including QShelter, the REIQ, Property Council, Master Builders and the Planning Institute of Australia.