Infrastructure fees to be slashed in bold new Brisbane housing plan

Brisbane City Council wil unveil a new scheme to slash infrastructure fees on new apartment builds.

Just 724 new Brisbane apartments were built last year – one-fifth of the average amount – as thousands of rental properties were stripped from the market amid the state’s spiralling housing crisis.

The shock figures can be revealed as Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner on Thursday unveils a landmark Brisbane City Council scheme which would see infrastructure fees slashed under a bold plan to incentivise the private sector to build more apartments.

Mr Schrinner said the new Housing Supply Action Plan would use the available “levers” to address the state’s housing crisis, and told The Courier-Mail “with 96 per cent of all homes built by the private sector, clearly government alone can’t solve this crisis”.

“Just 724 apartments were completed in Brisbane last year when the average over the last eight years has been almost 4000,” he said.

“Over the last three years, a further 35,000 people have moved to Brisbane while the number of rental properties has declined by 9500.

“These stark figures show how tough it is to build at the moment and demonstrate why we must act.”

Under the changes, the council would offer a 75 per cent fee reduction for studio, one-bedroom and two-bedroom apartments within inner-city and major area centres or under build-to-rent schemes with an existing approval since January 1, 2022.

Brisbane apartment projects

A 50 per cent fee reduction would be offered for similar inner-city apartments approved from September 1 onwards, while 100 per cent of fees would be waived for registered community housing providers.

“Our plan is the biggest step taken so far to kickstart the construction of new homes, but I firmly believe it’s the right thing to do with the limited levers Council has to help solve the housing crisis,” Mr Schrinner said.

“Brisbane is Australia’s fastest-growing capital city with more and more people wanting to come and live here.”

Queensland needs to deliver about 8500 new homes every year to cope with the rising population, according to the state government’s draft south east Queensland regional plan.

Property Council of Australia Queensland executive director Jen Williams welcomed the “outstanding initiative”.

“It has never been harder or more expensive to deliver new homes in Queensland, which is reflected in the drop off in the number of dwellings approved, under construction or completed in recent years,” she said.

“Infrastructure charges form a major component of the cost of delivery of new homes.

“This welcome reduction in the input costs of construction will go a long way to getting more homes on the ground, sooner.”

Originally published as Infrastructure fees to be slashed in bold new Brisbane housing plan