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The state government has announced its Housing Supply Expert Panel will be tasked with advising councils on addressing the “number one priority of local government right now”.
Deputy Premier Steven Miles said addressing housing supply and affordability is pertinent for all Queensland councils, with the panel set to provide advice on how best to overcome the issue.
“Some councils have out of date housing strategies that need to be updated given the population growth we have seen,” Mr Miles said.
“The Palaszczuk government stands ready to work with and assist councils to deliver affordable homes to meet population growth, as we are doing in the Moreton Bay region.”
The issue of land supply is one the government has looked to address since last year, when it launched the growth areas team to assist in coordinating stakeholders in bringing new land supply to market. The team identified Caboolture West as its first priority growth area, which is already unlocking 30,000 lots.
Mr Miles shared that the South-East Queensland Regional Planning Committee met on Friday, 9 September, to discuss planning to match infrastructure with population growth.
He announced the remit of the expert panel would expand to engulf the entire state during a visit in Cairns for the far north Queensland Regional Planning Committee.
“The housing shortage isn’t just in the south east,” he acknowledged. “People are moving to the regions too and we need to support all our councils to increase housing supply.
“The far north Queensland councils are aware of this and I welcome their suggestion to expand the panel’s work to the whole state.”
Additionally, the state is investing $200,000 to assist the Western Queensland Alliance of Councils deliver local housing action plans.
Adequate housing supply has plagued the Sunshine State recently — vacancy rates finished the June quarter below 1 per cent and in certain parts of the state, such as Nerang, they have been as low as 0.2 per cent.
The government’s latest action on addressing housing supply is a far cry from its 2022–23 budget, released in June, which was criticised at the time by Real Estate Institute of Queensland (REIQ) chief executive officer Antonia Mercorella for lacking a long-term housing plan.
She said at the time that “there’s been plenty of attention on winning the Olympics and the droves of interstate migrants choosing to call Queensland their home, but without a proper long-term plan of how our great state is going to put a roof over the heads of our growing population”.
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