New $7.5m housing complex to open in Southport amid Gold Coast housing crisis

This Gold Coaster will be one of the first to move into a new $7.5 million social housing complex being built after a two-year wait.

JOHANN Townend cried “happy tears” when she was told by the Department of Housing she would have a new, clean home that she and her son can afford.

One of the first residents to move into the new $7.5 million social housing complex in Southport, she and her 23-year-old son Guy had been waiting two years for the space.

“Where we are now, I slept on the couch and he had the room so we were waking up each other all the time,” Ms Townend said.

Minister for Housing Mick de Brenni and new resident Jo Townend.

SUBSCRIBE TO THE BULLETIN FOR $1 A WEEK FOR THE FIRST 8 WEEKS (Min cost $4)

Suffering from a chronic back injury, Ms Townend has been on the list to transfer to suitable and safe accommodation.

She now says the new home gives them the opportunity to get back on their feet.

“We have had a really hard time, but this is the piece de resistance,” she said.

“I cried when they told me we had the new apartment, I am just so happy, happy tears.”

“Nothing was working out for us, we were prodding and prodding, but that is behind us, the elation I feel today is what matters.

“For my son for his outlook, this will give him a chance to get a job."

The Queens St apartment building which houses 18 similar two-bedroom apartments is one of the 392 new or underway social housing projects on the Gold Coast.

According to Housing Minister Mick de Brenni, work on 161 homes have been started or completed, 72 are out to tender.

The increase in social housing stock on the Gold Coast is a bid to address concerns about homelessness, which has seen camps set up in school grounds

Southport business manager and resident Dale Anderson took a series of photos showing the homelessness problem in Southport CBD.

MORE THAN 100 HOMELESS CAMPING IN SOUTHPORT

The Gold Coast Bulletin has recently revealed the number of locals seeking the government subsidised accommodation jumped by 25 per cent in a year, with 4543 people on the Gold Coast seeking help.

“It is hard to think about your education or going back to work if you don’t have a safe and sustainable place to call home,” Minister De Brenni said.

“These new additions takes the number of social houses on the Gold Coast to over 5000,

this means one in every 14 rental properties on the gold coast is a social housing home.”

The department confirmed they had also removed homelessness camps and have established Co-ordination hub to deal with the issue and those not engaging with services.