Revealed: Where every social home was built in last three years

Queensland has no shortage of social homes being built - this is where you can find every one of them. SEE THE MAP

The Queensland government has built more than 2400 social homes across the state since the beginning of 2020, exclusive new data has revealed.

The Courier-Mail has obtained documents that provide an unprecedented insight into the construction of social homes amid sustained criticism of the state’s inability to keep up with extraordinary demand.

Housing Minister Meaghan Scanlon has repeatedly said the government plans to commence construction on another 10,000 social and affordable homes by 2027.

But the data reveals there is currently 787 homes in construction, with a large portion of those due to be completed in 2024.

While the in-construction figures show there is a large number of homes to become available in the coming years, building delays due to industry constraints threaten to slow the availability of desperately needed stock.

It also falls well short of what advocacy groups say will be needed to cater for the state’s continued surge in population.

A report last year commissioned by the Queensland Council of Social Service predicted the number of Queenslanders in need of housing support will soar in the coming years, declaring 2700 homes are needed each year just to keep up with demand.

But the report, led by widely respected UNSW housing academic Hal Pawson, said a staggering 11,000 public dwellings needed to be built each year to clear the enormous backlog of those waiting on the social housing register as well as prepare for the future demand.

According to the data obtained by The Courier-Mail, 412 social homes have been built in Brisbane since January 2020, while 236 were built on the Gold Coast.

On the Sunshine Coast, 138 homes were added to the state’s public dwelling stock, 199 were built in Ipswich, 324 in Logan, 293 in Moreton Bay, and 117 in Toowoomba.

In the state’s north, 176 social homes were built in Townsville and 138 homes in Cairns.

Housing Minister Meaghan Scanlon and Treasurer Cameron Dick inspecting a project in construction in Brisbane’s south. Picture: Liam Kidston

Ms Scanlon told The Courier-Mail the data showed the government was proactively boosting supply of social homes.

“Despite the challenges, Queensland is a hive of activity for social housing right now,” she said.

“We’ve got close to 800 homes being built.

“The Palaszczuk government has already delivered more than 4,000 homes and by 2027 we will have commenced nearly 10,000 more.”

The insight into the data comes as The Courier-Mail revealed the housing crisis had worsened a year on from the government’s landmark housing summit.

Homeless advocacy peak body QShelter said progress had been made over the 12 months as the group’s executive director Fiona Caniglia said “there is still much work to do to match solutions to the current and future need”.

The Housing Minister has been vocal about a looming comprehensive plan from the government to overhaul the strategy towards housing, which Ms Caniglia said must focus on “upstream policy prevention work as well as responding to crisis issues”.

“It’s easy to be critical of progress with housing supply at the moment, but we shouldn’t lose sight of the challenges with the high-cost construction environment, cost of land and workforce challenges that face all development types, especially low cost housing,” she said.

“With that said, there are some measures that we can advance more quickly to meet the size of the challenge in front of us.”

According to the latest federal government data, demand for homeless services from those needing help soared nearly 11 per cent since the October summit to June — worse than all other state and territories and by far outstripping the national average of 3.5 per cent.

The cost of construction also remains a barrier to the creation of desperately needed homes, with the Queensland’s Housing Industry Australia executive director, Mick Roberts, revealing the cost to build a two-bedroom unit in Brisbane is now more than $1 million.

Originally published as Revealed: Where every social home was built in last three years