Flood buyback scheme: Where hundreds of Qld homes demolished

More than 500 homes have been abandoned in flood-prone areas across Queensland’s southeast after residents at-risk of disaster accepted offers from the government’s buyback scheme.

More than 500 homes have been abandoned in flood-prone areas across Queensland’s southeast after residents at-risk of disaster accepted offers from the government’s buyback scheme.

So far, $333 million has been splashed on homes from Brisbane to the Lockyer Valley and up to the Fraser Coast, for an average cost per home of about $660,000.

Nearly 230 homes have already been demolished or relocated to safer ground under the jointly funded program from the state and federal governments launched in the wake of the devastating 2022 floods in SEQ.

A further 619 contracts have already been accepted from residents who volunteered for the program from the Resilient Homes Fund.

Gympie was devastated in the 2022 flood.

The majority of the homes where contracts had been settled were located in Brisbane, 229, and Ipswich, 144, which were both devastated by the infamous “rain bomb” less than two years ago.

This was followed by 44 homes settling in Moreton Bay and between 21 and 24 in each of Gympie, Lockyer Valley and Logan.

Federal Minister for Emergency Management Murray Watt said the government’s response to the 2022 floods would “make a real difference for people who have been impacted”.

“The repurchasing of over 500 severely damaged and destroyed homes and moving families and homeowners out of harm’s way will give peace of mind to the entire community,” he said.

“This program also demonstrates that we are taking serious action to minimise the impact of increasingly severe and frequent natural hazards that we are likely to face in the future.

State Disaster Recovery Minister Nikki Boyd said it was a relief to know more than 500 homeowners will be spared from future flooding.

“Following homeowner agreement for buyback, the program funds the respective council to purchase the land, with all homes purchased under the program demolished or removed,” she said.

“The land is then rezoned to an appropriate, non-occupied use such as green space.

“This means land which was the most severely impacted and at the greatest risk of future flooding, will not be have homes on it again.

“This program has changed the lives of Queensland families, and is improving the region’s resilience to flooding.”