‘Afterpay for houses’ set to shake up Queensland housing

The state government has been urged to extend its inner-city-centric build-to-rent scheme to fringe suburbs, where it could be used to build rental houses for struggling workers.

An Afterpay-style “buy now, pay later” home scheme has kicked off in Queensland, amid a housing shortage so chronic it sparked calls for build-to-rent to be extended to suburban houses.

Queensland’s housing crisis has sparked fresh ideas to get families into homes, including a rent-to-own scheme backed by the Commonwealth Bank and a controversial call for the government to extend its inner-city-centric build-to-rent scheme to fringe suburbs, where it could be used to build rental houses for struggling workers.

Technology startup OwnHome – backed by a $31m equity-raising effort from the likes of the CBA – was unleashed across South East Queensland on Friday after months of beta tests of the scheme that allows approved middle-income buyers to get into homes at a tenth of normal home deposit costs.

KDL Property Group managing director Kent Leicester at his Rosebank development in Logan Reserve. Picture: Nigel Hallett

OwnHome co-founder James Bowe, who has been running a beta test in Queensland since April, said they had already helped dozens of homeowners get into properties in southern capitals – most of whom were “the forgotten middle” who did not qualify for government help but struggled to amass a big enough deposit for normal funding.

The boost comes as developers warn that Queensland would struggle to meet chronic shortfalls in housing unless new moves were taken to boost supply, including extending the inner-city apartment based build-to-rent scheme to houses in outer suburbs to increase rentals.

KDL Property Group managing director Kent Leicester said if the construction crisis were to ease, more workers were needed, with skilled migration also able to fill gaps, but housing them all would be a nightmare.

The state’s housing crisis has sparked new ideas to get families into homes, including a rent-to-own scheme backed by the Commonwealth Bank.

“It’s widely known there are simply not enough rental properties available and those that are on the market are priced out of many people’s reach,” Mr Leicester said.

“We need federal, state and local governments to work together to find some solutions to this problem.”

He said approving more build-to-rent developments, including house and land projects, would help deliver more affordable rental housing.

“In Queensland, the state government has so far only approved a few build-to-rent developments, which I believe are apartment projects in inner Brisbane,” Mr Leicester said.

“We need not just apartments but more house and land projects in the outer suburbs of Brisbane and on the Gold Coast and Sunshine Coast to boost the supply of affordable rental housing where it is most needed.”