Vacant land shame: 100k blocks sit idle as housing crisis deepens

Almost 100,000 blocks of land are sitting idle across the state – including 879 owned by the government for social housing – as the state sinks further into its housing crisis.

Almost 100,000 blocks of land are sitting idle across Queensland – including 879 owned by the government for social housing – as the state sinks further into its housing crisis.

Data held by Queensland Treasury reveals that of the 97,845 blocks waiting to be built on, 59,750 of those are in South East Queensland.

And new figures show that while the average wait time for social housing is 19 months some of the 879 owned by the Department of Housing have been vacant for more than a decade.

Shockingly, two blocks in Mt Gravatt East have been left barren since back in 2013 when fire destroyed the homes.

Opposition spokesman for housing Tim Mander said Queenslanders living in tents and cars, without a roof over their head would find it inconceivable the Palaszczuk Government has done nothing with the idle land.

“As the Queensland Housing Crisis deepens, the Palaszczuk Government has been sitting on 879 vacant blocks,” he said.

But the Housing Minister Meaghan Scanlon defended the hundreds of empty blocks saying “More than 57 per cent of that land is now programmed for construction”.

“There are a number of historic parcels owned by the department, in many cases for decades, that are simply unsuitable because they’re flood-prone, are contaminated or been impacted by historic mining,” she said.

Greg Fellows has had his rent increase recently and is among those who struggled to find a place to live. Picture: Matthew Poon

Single father Greg Fellows said there wasn’t enough being done to give incentives to private investors to create housing for average Australians.

Mr Fellows has moved multiple times in the past few years while trying to budget and looking after three boys.

“It’s a challenge not only to locate something but to qualify for something,” he said.

“As a single parent with a single income, it’s hard to be favourable to get a property.

“That’s why I’ve had to pay three months rent to secure a property.

Mr Fellows said his last rent increase was $50 in April this year, which was a year after he had already moved from another place which increased their rent more than $60.

Mr Fellows also works as a program coordinator for youth service programs and says he sees the struggles for youth up to 25.

“It’s very difficult for them to get a start. They simply do not get enough money to pay their high rent,” he said.

This block at Mt Gravatt East is owned by the Department of Housing. It has remained vacant since the previous homes on it burned down in 2013. Picture: Nigel Hallett

Deputy Premier Steven Miles said his government would be “working closely” with council and industry in coming months to see more homes built.

“Market conditions are also a key factor in vacant lots with the residential construction industry in Queensland facing significant challenges due to supply chain disruptions and shortages and lack of suitably qualified labour,” he said.

Urban Development Institute of Australia Queensland chief executive Kirsty Chessher-Brown said there had “always been an excess of approvals over delivery”.

“There are many reasons why some dwellings don’t get completed, or built,” she said.

“This has been exacerbated by the current difficulties in the property development and construction industry.

“A recent survey undertaken by the institute found that the top five reasons that were currently hindering or preventing project delivery were: increased construction costs, insufficient or unavailable contractors or consultants to undertake the work, delays in approvals, skills shortages, and market uncertainty.”

The large swathes of land left undeveloped in South East Queensland has sparked three major councils to lash the State Government over its inadequate funding of vital infrastructure to better support current and future large-scale housing developments.

Ipswich Mayor Teresa Harding said developers were pushing for certainty around the location and timing of public transport links so they could bring forward affordable housing.

Ms Harding said her city’s population was expected to more than double in the coming decades.

“The critical factor for Ipswich to reach these growth targets and support affordable housing coming to market is certainty and access around the delivery of public transport to support this growth,” she said.

“Housing is not affordable if a family needs to own and maintain two cars in order to get to work, school and services, and this is why public transport connections for growing areas are so important.”

Redland City Council Mayor Karen Williams said she believed some developers were “land banking” in but supply chain issues and the huge increases in building costs were also factors in the large number of vacant blocks.

Ms Williams said her region had not been given enough infrastructure, such as public transport or road upgrades, to sustain the growth it has already experienced, let alone to make way for the extra 50,000 people projected under the recently released Southeast Queensland Regional Plan.

Ms Williams called for more transparency around how the government planned to support the projected population growth

“Really, the State Government hasn’t planned anything in regards to policing, to education, to connectivity to public transport to go with the plan and if they if they were local government, we would be requiring them to say every time someone builds a house, you need to tell us how you’re going to support that particular dwelling with the infrastructure required to maintain a sustainable lifestyle,” she said.

City of Moreton Bay Mayor Peter Flannery said his region was looking at adding 12,000 new residents each year but it was the developers stumping up for community infrastructure, not the state.

“We don’t think the State Government is doing enough to support councils and developers in terms of making sure current and future housing developments have appropriate infrastructure, that’s why we have taken things into our own hands, especially in terms of social housing,” he said.

“To create affordable housing and communities, we need the infrastructure, services and facilities to ensure our residents are able to live productive lives, where they can work and play, without it being too costly.”

Mr Flannery said he had been asking for support from the State for the much-needed delivery of the West Moreton Arterial to reduce congestion on the already clogged Bruce Highway.

The Deputy Premier, who is also the minister responsible for state development and infrastructure, rejected the statements that his government had not done enough to support ballooning communities.

“We know growth is not possible without infrastructure,” he said.

“That’s why we’re providing critical infrastructure funding to unlock new residential lots.”

He said his government was overseeing the state’s biggest decade of infrastructure delivery in history, including an $89 billion investment over four years.

“The Big Build is set to deliver big results for Queenslanders and deliver the infrastructure and essential services,” he said.

“In addition to schools, roads and other capital infrastructure spend, the Palaszczuk Government has provided more than $359 million since 2015 to directly provide critical infrastructure needed to develop residential lots and new communities.”

Queensland Council of Social Services CEO Aimee McVeigh said the state was in the middle of an unabating housing crisis and more than 300,000 Queenslanders had unmet housing needs.

“We need to see more homes built, faster, with at least 11,000 social and affordable homes required each year for the next ten years,” she said.

She said if there was appropriate parcels of land across the state that could be put to use, it should be.

Mr Mander said the government favoured making announcements on a grand scale that ultimately amounted to little.

“Promises aren’t being delivered because they’re engulfed by chaos and crisis,” he said.