Queensland-first retirement housing wins top award

A QUEENSLAND-first retirement housing development north of Toowoomba has won a prestigious award from the state’s developer body.

WINNER: Churches of Christ Housing Services' Thallon St flexible disability housing for elderly carers in Crows Nest has taken out a top prize at the 2019 UDIA Queensland Awards for Excellence.

A QUEENSLAND-first retirement housing development north of Toowoomba has won a prestigious award from the state's developer body.

Churches of Christ Housing Services took out the CEO's Award at the UDIA Queensland Awards of Excellence last week, for its flexible disability housing project on Thallon St in Crows Nest.

The units offered affordable and appropriate housing for elderly carers of adults with disabilities.

UDIA Queensland CEO Kirsty Chessher-Brown, who judged the award, said the project won her over partially because of its willingness to address an under-serviced market.

"This provides a real model to other developers to create more inclusive communities across the country," she said.

"It's a separate parcel, but it does link to the block behind it, which has the main Churches of Christ retirement village.

"What I look for is a project that's really tackled an emerging need that exists for our community and I thought this project was outstanding.

"A lot of the existing rental stock is just not appropriate in this region for these types of people."

Ms Chessher-Brown said the housing also benefited from being energy-efficient.

"It also represents an affordable rental model, so people can access it on a low income," she said.

"The design of the individual dwellings have insured that the maintenance costs are low.

"They've used sustainable materials and efficient airconditioning.

"The design has really tried to make sure that the residents who move into these dwellings, that their independence can be maximised."

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