Queensland Council of Social Service calls for the state government to spend $278m on social housing in Townsville

More than a thousand homes need to be built in Townsville to solve the city’s housing crisis.

• Burdell man charged with 32 offences of rape, child sex abuse on 6yo girl
• Kelso family left stranded after thieves steal BMW and Hyundai from their home

MORE than a thousand homes need to be built in Townsville to solve the city’s housing crisis.

The Queensland Council of Social Service has called on the state government to invest $278m of the upcoming budget into housing.

The 2021-22 Queensland budget will be tabled in State Parliament on June 15.

The QCOSS said the government’s own data shows there are 1116 families in urgent need of housing in the Townsville region and more than 1800 families in Townsville in the social housing register.

The Queensland Treasurer Cameron Dick is expected to release budget on June 15.

Housing in Townsville experienced a squeeze amid the COVID-19 pandemic with fewer people moving in and out of rentals. However, as restrictions were lifted, people from the city began moving to places like Townsville, putting even more pressure on an already tight market.

Some agents in Townsville have reported as many as 80 applications for a home with rental availability dropping well below 1 per cent.

More homes need to be built in Townsville to solve the city’s housing crisis. Picture: Evan Morgan

The Queensland government was expected to construct 37 new homes for Townsville in 2020, bringing the total constructed in the last five years to 162.

The government spends about $180m a year on social housing construction across the state.

QCOSS CEO Aimee McVeigh said the investment could create up to 2500 jobs and have a significant impact on the housing crisis.

“There are 3517 people in Townsville right now who don’t have a safe place to sleep

tonight,” she said.

“They cannot afford their rent, they are sleeping in their car, or on a friend’s

couch.

“For too long, we’ve been using emergency sandbags against what is a tsunami of

need. Investment at its current pace is simply not meeting demand.

“We need the Queensland government to make real change and commit to building

1116 social homes to address this.”

Mission Australia’s Queensland state director Stephen Vines said the government could not take a back seat when it came to homelessness and affordable housing.

“That’s why we call on our state government to build enough social housing to

address the severe shortage of affordable housing, prevent more people becoming

homeless and to ultimately help end homelessness in Queensland,” he said. 

Originally published as Queensland Council of Social Service calls for the state government to spend $278m on social housing in Townsville