Greater Whitsunday report offers early solutions to escalating housing crisis

Escalating housing stress across Qld is a multi-layered problem but a roundtable discussion with leaders in the sector produced some “low hanging fruit” to ease the pain.

For Dolphin Heads father-of-two Adam Byng, the housing crisis engulfing the Greater Whitsundays is not just a newspaper headline but a sharp reality of daily life.

He has taken to GoFundMe to raise $2000 to help him pay his rent, which he says has jumped by $100 a week.

His story is not an isolated one.

The Queensland Council of Social Service estimates 300,000 people across the state are experiencing “housing insecurity” as supply continues to lag soaring demand.

But a recent report from the Greater Whitsunday Housing Project roundtable, compiled from leading figures across the Mackay, Whitsunday and Isaac housing sectors, offers some low-hanging fruit, or “quick wins” that could begin to ease the stress.

Housing stress is pushing people across the Mackay region into homelessness. This man, his dog and his partner were living in a tent behind a petrol station in Richmond late last year. Picture: Duncan Evans

Converting containers into houses, turning existing and underutilised buildings into residential accommodation, deploying storage facilities as homeless shelters, mapping under-utilised housing assets, building demountables of on available government land and determining how many homes are vacant across all three LGAs were some of the ideas floated to move the region onto a more stable footing.

The report states the “economic prosperity and liveability of the region has attracted population growth, which has caused housing demand to exceed supply, coupled with systemic shortfalls in housing growth stock in recent years.”

Supply, meanwhile, has lagged for a “number of reasons”, including building material availability and cost, workforce shortages and a lack of investor confidence in the regions.

In effect, there is a deep-rooted mismatch between supply and demand.

GW3 CEO Kylie Porter emphasised there was no “one size fits all” solution to the problem because affordable housing meant different things to different people, from first home buyers with stable incomes trying to enter the market to low-income families in need of social housing options.

GW3 CEO Kylie Porter attends a discussion with Energy Minister Mick de Brenni on business opportunities flowing from the $12bn pumped hydro scheme at Harrup Park on October 19. Mrs Porter has emphasised there is no ‘one size fits all’ solution to the problem of housing affordability in the Greater Whitsundays. Picture: Duncan Evans

“There is definitely investment interest in building properties in the region but whether or not it is at the pace we require is another thing,” she said.

She said a multi-year imbalance between supply and demand was beginning to level out.

“The supply chain issues are easing, interest rates are rising, so that means demand could possibly cool or slow down a little bit,” she said.

Though local councils, which control development applications, are crucial actors in the mix, housing is generally a state and federal responsibility.

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The report calls for state and federal government representatives to attend a special summit in May designed to formulate medium-term and long-term solutions to the problem.

Whitsunday Mayor Julie Hall is pushing for the federal government to extend the National Rental Affordability Scheme, which offers financial incentives to investors to rent their dwellings to low and middle income renters.

“(The scheme helps) to increase the supply of rental properties and lower rental prices,” she said.

“However, this program is set to expire soon on a staggered shut down, and I believe that we must advocate strongly for its extension.”

Whitsunday Regional Council Deputy Mayor Gary Simpson with Mayor Julie Hall on September 14 at council chambers in Proserpine. Mrs Hall is pushing for the federal government to extend the National Rental Affordability Scheme. Picture: Duncan Evans

At its March 22 meeting, Whitsunday Regional Council voted unanimously to bring the proposal to the Australian Local Government Association.

“Families, couples and singles are counting on the federal and state governments to act and it breaks my heart that homelessness is on the rise,” Ms Hall said.

“This is a crisis and deserves a crisis response.”

Following a statewide summit on housing in October 2022, the state government’s Housing Investment Fund, which offers subsidies and grants to developers and investors to build or redevelop more housing, doubled to $2bn.

The summit also threw in an extra $56m, including $10m to deliver more temporary emergency accommodation.

The Greater Whitsunday Housing Project also includes a research program that will provide more data for the May summit.