Desperate families added to waitlist amid Queensland’s crippling housing crisis

The true extent of Queensland’s social housing crisis has stretched to ‘more like 100,000 households’ in limbo, with many families not bothering with “years-long” waiting lists, the state’s peak body has warned.

• ‘Invisible’: Months on waitlist

The true extent of Queensland’s social housing crisis has stretched to “more like 100,000 households” with many families not bothering with “years-long” waiting lists, the state’s peak body has warned.

The Queensland Council of Social Service has demanded the state government “urgently” release its short, medium and long-term plan to address the state’s housing crisis which it says will worsen.

QCOSS chief executive Aimee McVeigh said shock data reveals the number of people on the state’s social housing register had climbed by almost 1600 to 43,074 by the end of September.

However, Ms McVeigh said the register did not “properly reflect the needs of the community” as many families simply did not bother registering due to “years-long” wait lists.

“There are actually more like 100,000 households requiring social housing but many don’t apply because you can wait years,” Ms McVeigh said.

Ms McVeigh said it was no longer a case that having a job secured a good quality of life and that working families on dual incomes were fronting up to register.

QCOSS chief executive Aimee McVeigh says more Queensland families are in desperate need of a home. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Glenn Campbell

She described the current crisis as a “race to the bottom” and hit out at the state government for failing to set out its long-term plan which she said was months overdue.

“Right now, we have a commitment to a long-term plan. But we have not seen that plan. It is time with a new premier … to explain how they will address Queensland’s housing crisis,” Ms McVeigh said.

“We need a strategy that stitches together all the needs. We are calling on the government to release Queensland’s housing plan.

“We have been expecting this plan for months and have not seen it.

“It’s well overdue and we need an urgent and credible response.”

Ms McVeigh said more families were seeking help for housing.

“More and more families are struggling to find a suitable home as they face extraordinarily low vacancy rates and soaring rents in the current housing and cost of living crises,” she said.

Ms McVeigh said the organisation was being told many Queenslanders were “not even bothering to apply for social housing” given the long wait times and low-income threshold.

Data reveals the number of households with children on the social housing register has climbed from 5988 to 6733, while the number of people with a disability had also risen, from 11,760 to 11,800.

During the quarter, the state government found social homes for 848 families – almost the amount added to the register in the same 90 days.

Housing Minister Meaghan Scanlon – whose standing has been elevated in Cabinet under new Premier Steven Miles, with the addition of Public Works, Planning and Local Government to her portfolio – announced late last year a $23m funding boost to the Immediate Housing Response for Families.

The IHRF seeks to provide emergency accommodation for families experiencing homelessness, in response to a spike in demand.

“We know there are housing concerns across the community, and we are getting on with the job of building more homes to put a roof over the head of people who need it most,” she said at the time.

Queensland Minister for Housing, Local Government and Planning and Minister for Public Works Meaghan Scanlon. Picture Lachie Millard

About 900 social and affordable homes were currently under construction across Queensland, with the government pledging to commence 14,100 new homes by mid-2027.

But LNP housing spokesman Tim Mander described the social housing register log jam as a “devastating blow for vulnerable Queenslanders”, and accused the Labor Government of “nine years of poor planning”.

“The third-term Labor Government promised a $2 billion Housing Investment Fund two and a half years ago, but it hasn’t built a single home and not one project has been approved in regional Queensland,” Mr Mander said.

“Never before has there been a more difficult time to find, secure or keep a roof over your head in Queensland, than now under Labor.

More tents have been popping up in Spring Hill and other parts of the inner-city amid the crisis. Photo: Steve Pohlner

“Queenslanders are fighting against the lowest rental vacancies on record and the biggest rental rises in the nation, the situation is dire and getting worse.”

A spate of “tent-cities” throughout Brisbane’s inner-city have also sprung up as the housing crisis continues on, with the latest a group of 15 now occupying Spring Hill’s Wickham Park.

Chair for City Planning Councillor Adam Allan told The Courier-Mail the Council had permanently waived infrastructure charges for community housing providers across Brisbane – saving them $1m for every 100 homes they deliver – in a bid to help ease the situation.

Kayla Kriton and her 18 month old daughter Mylee Manson are on the social housing waitlist. Picture: David Clark

With Ms Scanlon currently on leave, a Department of Housing spokesperson told The Courier-Mail there had been “an increase in applications from family households and a reduction in applications from single person households, which is why we have more people on the register for a similar number of applications”.

“But we are acting to make sure Queenslanders have access to a wide range of housing and homelessness supports,” they said.

“We have continued to boost the IHRF, with funding now totalling more than $65 million over two years.

“Through the IHRF, we are ensuring that families in urgent housing need can access temporary accommodation and support, while organisations work with the department to assist them to transition to longer-term housing.”

Homeless tents in Wickham Terrace Park. Picture: David Clark

The department said since the initiative had commenced more than 7,800 households had been assisted, with more than 170,300 nights of short term purchased accommodation for families.

Ms McVeigh said about 2,700 social homes needed to be built every year across the state for the next decade to make a difference.

“We look forward to the impending release of the Queensland Government’s new long-term plan for housing. Never has a long-term housing plan been so important,” she said.

A review of the income threshold for social homes was also being undertaken by the government, which has been unchanged since 2006 – and means a couple with two children must earn less than $52,000 per year to be eligible.

Tents have been spotted at parks across the city as the state’s housing crisis deepens. Picture David Clark

The department said it was “important to note that many households on the housing register have already been assisted with other solutions such as bond loans and rental grants.”

“This means the person or family may have been helped to secure a home in the private rental market but remain on the housing register,” they said.

Under Ms Scanlon the social housing register data was now released quarterly, instead of annually.

Mr Mander said should the LNP be elected in October their focus would be on boosting the supply of land, and claimed they would deliver more timely services.

“The Queensland Housing Crisis has not happened overnight. Queenslanders have watched Labor fail to plan and deliver and now we are living the results,” he said.

“Our priorities include improving housing affordability with more land supply and developing timely plans to identify what infrastructure and services are needed to accommodate our population.

“It’s clear amid the chaos and crisis of this third-term Labor Government, they’re more focused on big announcements rather than the follow-through.”