Gold Coast housing: Council urged to do more to solve development shortage

The Gold Coast City Council must do more to free up land to fast-track development, Treasurer Cameron Dick has declared as property experts warn the shortage is reaching crisis levels.

The Gold Coast City Council must do more to free up land to fast-track housing development, state Treasurer Cameron Dick has declared.

Mr Dick, speaking at a private Young Professionals Gold Coast dinner, talked up the strength of the property sector but said the council had to play a key role to find land as the city faces a housing crisis.

“Anyone who is in property or construction knows what the cost of construction is in Queensland,” said Mr Dick.

“Construction materials have gone up significantly, so across the board more money is needed to continue building.

Treasurer Cameron Dick. Picture: Liam Kidston

“I think council needs to do a bit more to be honest, we have got to get more land to market, the more land we can release, the quicker approvals can go through and the quicker we can get these homes built.”

Mr Dick discussed a new $150m funding initiative to help councils release more land and a 50 per cent land tax deduction system to encourage more build-to-rent developments

But Mayor Tom Tate hit back at Mr Dick’s comments, insisting the council was “doing more than it’s fair share in this space”.

“We have been and continue to be a leader in approving appropriate and sustainable housing, across the length and breadth of our city,” he said.

Mayor Tom Tate. Picture Glenn Hampson

“We have stuck to the aspirations of the City Plan which encourages in-fill development in around 80 per cent of our existing urban footprint as well as higher density development along our major public transport routes, including the light rail.”

A report by leading national real estate firm CBRE released in June revealed the level of housing development currently proposed for the Gold Coast will not come close to solving the city’s accommodation crisis.

The CBRE report revealed the number of dwellings on the Gold Coast increased by 1222 in 2022, while the population grew by more than 14,000 people, or around 6000 households.

There’s plenty of construction on the Gold Coast but it isn’t keeping up with the population growth. Photo: Regi Varghese

And the report warns pressure will continue to grow for both renters and buyers.

It comes as the Property Council of Australia warn Queensland’s housing supply levels were “deteriorating”.

Property Council Queensland Executive Director Jen Williams said the issue was reaching crisis levels.

“Failure to deliver housing not only impacts the residential sector but has flow on effects to all other sectors as consumers tighten their purse strings to ensure they can stay on top of increasing mortgage payments and rents,” she said.

The Property Council Queensland has warned of the impact of the shortfall.

“This is evidenced in the latest set of data, with declining confidence across sectors including retail, hotel and office, as well as an overall decline in forward work expectations and staffing levels.

“While material costs and supply chain disruptions have eased, there is no doubting that labour costs and a solid forward work program of infrastructure projects are having a flow on effect to the ability of the industry to deliver new supply.”