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Brisbane has unveiled a plan to encourage the delivery of thousands of new homes by offering financial incentives in the form of infrastructure charge waivers to private and community housing providers.
The city’s Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner unveiled this initiative alongside other key adjustments to Brisbane’s building guidelines, including the relaxation of height and car parking requirements in inner-city and designated areas near shopping centres to cut back on sprawl and urge high-density development.
Mr Schrinner said that it was apparent the city had to take action, with Brisbane receiving an influx of domestic and international new residents and the city gearing up for increased activity ahead of the 2032 Olympics.
“We’re going to need about 8,500 new homes a year to meet this demand, according to the state government’s draft South East Queensland Regional Plan,” Mr Schrinner noted.
“Yet the development and construction industries are currently falling well short of that due to increasing costs, supply chain disruptions and labour shortages, creating a perfect storm that’s led to the housing crisis.”
He described the new Housing Action Supply Plan as the biggest step the city has taken so far to bolster the construction of new dwellings, stressing that the council only had “limited levers” to utilise in addressing the housing crisis.
“With 96 per cent of all homes built by the private sector, clearly government alone can’t solve this crisis.
“To get things moving, we’re incentivising industry to build new homes by reducing infrastructure charges for eligible projects.”
The new infrastructure charge waivers include:
- 75 per cent reduction for studio, one- and two-bedroom apartments within inner-city, high-density principal and major centre areas with an existing approval since 1 January 2022.
- 75 per cent reduction for studio, one- and two-bedroom build-to-rent apartments within inner-city, high-density principal and major centre areas with an existing approval since 1 January 2022.
- 50 per cent reduction for studio, one- and two-bedroom apartments within inner-city, high-density principal and major centre areas approved from 1 September 2023 onwards.
- 50 per cent reduction for studio, one- and two-bedroom build-to-rent apartments within inner-city, high-density principal and major centre areas approved from 1 September 2023 onwards.
- 100 per cent permanent and ongoing reduction for registered community housing providers.
Projects need to be completed within four years to take advantage of the infrastructure charge waivers.
Given that the waivers can be accessed by already approved projects, the council estimated that this will help fast-track approximately 3,000 homes that are already in the pipeline.
Mr Schrinner said he hopes these incentives will see thousands more join the ranks of those already approved.
“Just 724 apartments were completed in Brisbane last year when the average over the last eight years has been almost 4,000,” he noted.
“Over the last three years, a further 35,000 people have moved to Brisbane while the number of rental properties has declined by 9,500.
“These stark figures show how tough it is to build at the moment and demonstrate why we must act.
“Our plan to waive charges for homes built over the next few years will help put a roof over thousands of heads at a time when it is urgently needed,” Mr Schrinner said.
The plan has been backed by the Property Council of Australia, with PCA’s Queensland executive director, Jen Williams, commenting that the plan “will go a long way to getting more homes on the ground, sooner”.
“It has never been harder or more expensive to deliver new homes in Queensland. This is reflected in the drop off in number of new dwellings approved, under construction or completed in recent years,” she said.
“The Property Council applauds Brisbane City Council for this outstanding initiative that will enable the delivery of much-needed homes in highly desirable locations across the city,” Ms Williams added.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Juliet Helmke
Based in Sydney, Juliet Helmke has a broad range of reporting and editorial experience across the areas of business, technology, entertainment and the arts. She was formerly Senior Editor at The New York Observer.
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