Qld housing crisis: Summit hatches land audit, satellite cities plan

A mass land audit and the fast-tracking of satellite cities were just some of the ideas flagged at the Queensland housing summit. HAVE YOUR SAY

The Palaszczuk government will urgently audit land across Queensland to identify pockets prime for urban development and fast-track a review of proposed satellite cities to ease the state’s housing crisis.

Annastacia Palaszczuk issued a rallying cry at the Queensland housing summit on Thursday to address widespread affordability and availability issues forcing tens of thousands to the brink of homelessness.

The housing summit was a crucial win for The Courier-Mail’s Hitting Home campaign, which also saw the government quash its controversial land tax policy, commit to investigating the impact of short-stay rentals on rental availability, allow homeowners to lease granny flats and increase its expenditure on social housing.

Ms Palaszczuk vowed to present solutions offered by the cross-section of homeless service providers, industry leaders and politicians to parliament next month, declaring “families out there are counting on us”.

“They’re counting on government working together with everybody in this room to think about how we can create a better life for them,” Ms Palaszczuk said in her keynote address.

Deputy Premier and Planning Minister Steven Miles revealed the South East Queensland Regional Plan, which identifies areas across the region prime for new urban development, would be fast-tracked.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk addresses the housing summit on Thursday. Picture: David Clark

He said the committee would meet next month to bring forward the completion of the review from 2024 to 2023, as was advocated by The Courier-Mail’s Hitting Home campaign.

“A swift, fit for purpose update of the SEQRP will ensure it better reflects our current landscape,” Mr Miles said.

“It will help us work with councils to accelerate the delivery of more housing, with more choice and better access to services and amenities.

“It will also take into account the review of under-utilised urban footprint land currently underway by the growth areas team to identify opportunities to make better use of existing land.”

Ms Palaszczuk said the state development department director-general, Mike Kaiser, had been tasked to conduct an urgent audit of government-owned assets to identify land where housing can be constructed.

Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner used the summit to push for a lower threshold for body corporates to sell off their entire apartment block in a bid to transform ageing six pack units into new developments.

“In some of the other Australian states, body corporates can choose to dissolve and redevelop when 75 per cent of owners agree while in Queensland it must be 100 per cent agreement,” he said.

“If we’re going to tackle the short and long term challenges of ensuring we have enough homes to meet the huge demand, simple changes like this can help make this happen.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk (centre) with attendees (from left) Jody Currie, Fiona Caniglia, Kevin Mercer, Jen Williams, Aimee McVeigh, Antonia Mercorella and Karyn Walsh. Picture: David Clark

“This change would support our agenda of suburban renewal, seeing opportunities unlocked to provide new homes without losing the character and liveability of local communities.”

Property Council Queensland executive director Jen Williams said her organisation backed the proposal.

“The situation has changed from the granny being pushed out to actually people who are stuck there because they can’t sell out to anybody because the building is falling down around them,” she said.

Federal Housing Minister Julie Collins attended the summit ahead of the Albanese government handing down its first federal budget next week, which service providers hope will deliver on the Prime Minister’s commitment to provide support to assist housing issues.

Queensland Council of Social Service chief executive Aimee McVeigh said “It will be really important to see what’s in the federal budget”.

“We need to make sure our state is well positioned to leverage that investment and to get the best bang for buck.”

Ms McVeigh said Ms Palaszczuk’s promise to table an outcomes document in parliament next month presented an opportunity to track the government’s plan to address the housing crisis.

“We would like to see something come from this which sets a goal and a plan which has targets and allows Queenslanders to keep the Queensland government accountable for putting a roof over the head of each of us,” she said.

Q Shelter executive director Fiona Caniglia said there was significant buy-in at the summit from private and not-for-profit groups, as well as senior ministers in the state government.

“This is different. We have turned a corner. It’s a new milestone,” she said.