Townsville social housing property left vacant as crisis deepens
More than 70 properties owned by the Department of Housing sat vacant in Townsville in the midst of the city’s housing crisis.
Townsville
Don't miss out on the headlines from Townsville. Followed categories will be added to My News.
More than 70 properties owned by the Department of Housing sat vacant in Townsville in the midst of the city’s housing crisis last financial year.
As more than 4000 in Townsville wait for public housing, a recent Question on Notice has revealed that 73 blocks of land and 38 homes owned by the Department of Housing in the city were sitting vacant on June 30, 2022.
The new figures revealed six of those homes had been empty for 30 days or more.
It comes as Townsville is experiencing a spike in homelessness as soaring cost-of-living pressures and record-low rental vacancies push more residents onto the streets.
The number of people seeking assistance has doubled at Townsville’s Homelessness Hub this year as an increasing number of families resort to sleeping in cars and tents for the first time.
Shadow Housing Minister Tim Mander said the vacant blocks were an insult to Townsville locals struggling to find a home.
“These 70 vacant blocks represent seven years of inaction by the Palaszczuk Government,” Mr Mander said.
“For the Townsville locals needing a home, these figures must be heartbreaking.
“The Auditor-General has said there aren’t enough social homes, and now we see they’ve got dozens of blocks sitting unused in the city of Townsville.”
In her response to the Question on Notice, Housing Minister Leeanne Enoch said the department “actively manages the portfolio to minimise the length of time social housing is vacant.”
She said vacancy turnaround times can be impacted by difficulties in tenanting properties in hard-to-let locations, delays in completing maintenance work and significant maintenance and upgrade requirements.
The funding will largely focus on short-term relief for those at risk of homelessness, including $11.7m to help about 2500 Queenslanders stay in their leases to avoid homelessness, $10m for targeted loans and grants and $10m to set up extra temporary emergency accommodation with on-site support.
Queensland Council of Social Services chief executive Aimee McVeigh said the new funding would deliver short-term relief for Queenslanders, particularly those struggling to pay their rent amid skyrocketing living costs.
But 45,958 people on Queensland’s social housing register waiting list needed homes “built immediately”.
She said there were 4027 people on the social housing register in the Townsville City Council area — up from 1525 in 2017.
Ms McVeigh said of those 4027 people, 1107 people had been identified as either being homeless or at danger of facing homelessness.
“Two thousand residents have been identified as having high or very high housing need,” she said. “And of the 2053 applications, 624 households include a person with an identified disability, and 692 are single-parent family households. We need solutions now.”
Originally published as Townsville social housing property left vacant as crisis deepens
‘Absolute fighter’: Magnetic Island woman battling cancer inspired by mum’s example
Magnetic Island resident Melia Hinks still remembers supporting her mother during her cancer journey when she was young – now the 22-year-old is facing her own cancer battle. HER STORY >
Teen’s awkward mistake while trying to escape police
An 18-year-old drove violent thieves around the city during a series of daylight robberies. Discover the unusual weapons his accomplices used and what mistake he made before his arrest.