St Vincent de Paul Society starts work on new social housing project at Newtown

A top charity’s new development in Toowoomba promises to help move 27 families off the city's ballooning social housing wait list.

Vinnies Queensland acting CEO Joe Duskovic (left) and Toowoomba Diocesan Member Brian Mahoney, as Vinnies Housing social and affordable housing is under construction in Newtown by Hutchinson Builders as part of the 500 Homes Project, Thursday, September 4, 2025. Picture: Kevin Farmer

Brian Mahoney has seen the expressions on people’s faces when they learn they’ve escaped Toowoomba’s ballooning social housing wait list and found a place to call home.

“To see the joy when people get notification that they’ve finally made it off the list and into a tenancy (is wonderful), and people value it incredibly highly,” the St Vincent de Paul Society volunteer said.

Mr Mahoney and the Vinnies local housing committee are hoping to do that for 27 applicants soon to fill the charity’s massive new social housing project on Hill Street in Newtown.

The development, funded through Vinnies’ 500 Homes initiative, will include two four-bedroom townhouses, 10 two-bedroom units and 15 single-bed dwellings across a large footprint once it is completed late next year.

At Vinnies Housing social and affordable housing under construction in Newtown by Hutchinson Builders as part of the 500 Homes Project are (from left) Ben Sutton of Hutchinson Builders, Richard Vaughan of Department of Housing and Public Works, Joe Duskovic of Vinnies Queensland, Trish McMahon of Vinnies Queensland, Sharon Shearsmith of Vinnies Housing Queensland and Dennis Innes of Vinnies Housing Queensland, Thursday, September 4, 2025. Picture: Kevin Farmer

“This is our second one to break ground in the Toowoomba area, where we’ve got 100 homes we’re looking to deliver over the next three years,” Vinnies Queensland acting chief executive Joe Duskovic said.

“We understand that it’s not going to solve the housing crisis in the area, but we do have plans to deliver further housing, including 100 homes in Toowoomba and the Darling Downs over the next few years and then continue to build homes beyond that.”

Concept art for a new 27-unit social housing project on Hill Street in Newtown, Toowoomba by St Vincent de Paul Society, which has been lodged with the Queensland government.

The project, which was approved through the Queensland government’s ministerial infrastructure designation (MID) process, comes as Toowoomba tries to ramp up the development of more public and social housing to meet demand.

As of March 2025, nearly 1800 people across more than 950 active applications were on the government’s social housing register for the Toowoomba Regional Council area.

Mr Mahoney said more than 100 individuals and families would likely be interviewed or considered for the 27 dwellings, underscoring how highly-prized these projects were.

“Generally for a two-bedroom unit, we will usually interview a shortlist of three, but we probably would have seven or eight on the long list before we get to that,” he said.

“So it’s a process where we take it seriously and we try to get the right mix at the right outcomes for everybody.

“We’ve got a serious housing issue and that’s largely caused by the lack of supply, and then the follow on from that is the increase in rental prices, so any extra supply that we can support is going to be good.

“We try to get a good mix of tenancies, we try to get a good dynamic (and) to get not just a roof over people’s heads, but also a community that is nurturing (and) that is respectful.”

Geneene Meijer after speaking as Vinnies Housing social and affordable housing is under construction in Newtown by Hutchinson Builders as part of the 500 Homes Project, Thursday, September 4, 2025. Picture: Kevin Farmer

Mr Mahoney said several demographics were appearing often on the wait lists.

“We all know the pressures on housing generally but some people are marginalised and have even less chance of getting accommodation through private rentals, so they’re the people that are probably most benefited by this development,” he said.

“We’re seeing older women, which is probably an obvious one, single mothers, but generally just aged residents who find it more difficult to get private rentals.”

Hutchinson Builders Toowoomba team leader Sean Lees, whose team is currently on-site, said social housing now made up a greater percentage of the company’s projects compared with prior years.

“It wasn’t a huge part 10 years ago, but it probably represents a third of what we do now,” he said.

“We’ve done a large number of these things, both using prefabrication and also conventional building methodologies, but it’s growing all the time in response to the well-publicised need for housing.

“To build something that’s for profit is one thing, like a commercial enterprise, but to build something that is going to address a real need that most of us can see generally and feel around your communities is pretty nice to be part of that.”