Revealed: Coast suburbs with highest waiting list for rentals

More than 1000 people in one Gold Coast suburb alone are seeking social housing after being caught in the city’s affordability crisis. WHERE YOUR SUBURB RANKS

Labrador has become the Gold Coast’s social housing pressure point, with more than 1000 people seeking a state subsidised home in the midst of the city’s affordability crisis.

New data showcases wide trends across the Coast, with some suburbs having a drop-off in their social housing waitlists, such as Gaven.

On the other end of the scale, Currumbin has experienced an 84 per increase in demand for cheaper rental stock.

The new figures from an Auditor General’s report has sparked a political war, with the opposition accusing the state government of poor planning and Labor responding by saying the LNP is working against joint solutions at the coal face.

The Movement Gold Coast's Ru Taylor with Bonney MP Sam O'Connor helping feed the homeless at a Gold Coast park.

The figures covering 2018 to 2022 show the following trends across suburbs:

■ Bonney, which covers Labrador and Biggera Waters has the biggest waiting list (1087) after a 70.9 per cent spike.

■ Currumbin is second with 610 people waiting (an 84.3 per cent hike).

■ Theodore which includes Oxenford and Upper Coomera has 326 people waiting (75.8 per cent increase).

■ The largest drop-off in demand has occurred at Broadwater (-97.5 per cent), Burleigh (-97.2 per cent), Gaven (-87.6 per cent), Southport (-83.7 per cent) and Mudgeeraba (-76.9 per cent).

Aerial view of Labrador/Southport on the Gold Coast.

Opposition Housing spokesperson Tim Mander said regional Queenslanders were being left behind.

“Sadly, these figures don’t surprise me because the State Government has failed to understand the enormity of the situation,” Mr Mander said.

“This is the result of poor planning and gross negligence from a third term government that has turned its back on regional Queensland.

“These are our most vulnerable Queenslanders and some of them have been stuck on a waiting list for years.

Bonney MP Sam O’Connor said he was not shocked by the figures given the increase in rental costs in his electorate.

“I think it because we have a higher proportion of rentals. A lot of people are being pushed to search for social housing. We haven’t seen any investment there,” Mr O’Connor told the Bulletin.

But Gaven MP Meaghan Scanlon said the government on the Coast had built more than 340 social houses built in recent years as part of a $2.9 billion housing investment.

Meaghan Scanlon at Parliament — calling for a joint party approach on social housing. Photo:Steve Pohlner.

“And we’ll see more hundreds come online in the next few years. In most Coast electorates we have seen the waitlist come down, but it is clear there’s still more work to be done,” Ms Scanlon said.

The Labor Minister called for a joint approach to housing from all levels of government.

“What we don’t need is the LNP saying one thing, then doing the complete opposite. While over the last few weeks we’ve seen them try to spout their political lines on the nightly news, the Coast’s LNP MPs have actively railed against solutions to housing stress,” she said.

“Sam O’Connor has opposed changes to density to increase supply in Bonney, where there are more people who need housing. Their housing lines are being spun by the same bloke (Tim Mander) who not only built zero homes on the Gold Coast, but cut social housing construction by 90 per cent and saw the number of social homes go backwards by more than 400.”