Qld Government Partnership Flips Homes for Social Housing

More than 120 homes will be converted to social housing north of Brisbane in a partnership between the Queensland government and a community housing provider.

The Palaszczuk government and Coast2Bay are joining forces to buy up the 121 homes on the Sunshine Coast, Moreton Bay and Gympie.

Most of the homes were part of the soon-to-be-closed National Rental Affordability Scheme, a Federal government initiative that offers affordable rental homes to eligible households, which ends in 2026.

The first 24 homes are already under contract through the partnership between the government’s Housing Investment Fund and Coast2Bay.

The homes are a mix of detached houses, townhouses and apartments.

The government and Coast2Bay are also building new homes under their partnership including at Yandina on the Sunshine Coast where work has begun on a complex of 23 one-bedroom and three two-bedroom apartments.

The government has contributed $9.78 million to this project that, once complete in October 2023, will provide homes for Queenslanders on the social housing register.

The partnership is part of the government’s $5 billion earmarked for social and affordable homes to help deliver 13,500 homes.

Such partnerships are one of the methods the government is using to address the housing shortfall—in June it announced 1200 new social and affordable homes would be delivered through a partnership between community housing provider Brisbane Housing Company and the Queensland Investment Corporation.

And in July it was revealed the Queensland government had bought a Brisbane hotel and would convert it into accommodation for people at risk of homelessness as the housing crisis continued to deepen.

It was reported the government paid $5.3 million for the unnamed 23-key inner-city property, and said it would provide a safe place to stay for small families.