Landmark Home Owner Grant offered by regional Queensland council giving $20,000 to new owners

A western Queensland council is offering $20,000 grants to new homeowners to help grow the region in one of the most generous schemes in the state. Here’s all the details.

In a bid to grow the little outback town, Quilpie Shire Council has announced their plans to increase their current Home Owner Grant scheme from $12,500 to $20,000, one of the biggest on offer in Queensland.

Everyone who has already purchased land, and has either built or is in the process of building under the original Home Owner Grant scheme introduced in 2021, will still be eligible for the increased $20,000 subsidy.

Quilpie Shire Council CEO Justin Hancock said the increase was due to rising land valuations, rates and cost of living pressures.

Mr Hancock said council had benefited from these rising costs, which was why they raised the grant amount to encourage more financial and residential growth in the region.

Quilpie Shire Council CEO Justin Hancock in front of his new house after having to live in a nursing home when he first moved to the region. Picture: Supplied.

“Even with the rise in value of our land to $25,000, buying in Quilpie still represents exceptional value,” he said.

“Our new $20,000 grant will cover most of the price of their land if they build and live on it.

“We believe that this new $20,000 grant is the biggest on offer in Queensland.

“We were the first council in Outback Queensland to introduce such a policy, and it was a huge success – we had interest from all around Australia as well as globally from the US, India and Ireland.”

Drone shots of Quilpie's Curlew Estate where land has been sold for new housing. Picture: Supplied.

The original Home Owners Grant saw seven blocks of land sold as well as new businesses opening up and existing businesses expanding in Quilpie.

Mayor Stuart Mackenzie said council’s goal was to grow the population from 800 residents back to 1000.

Drone shots of Quilpie's Curlew Estate where land has been sold for new housing. Picture: Supplied.

“Despite the recent baby boom of our existing residents – we’ve had more than ten locally based families welcome babies over the last few months, we still need to see new residents move into our region to help support this goal,” Mr Mackenzie said.

“As a friendly community we look forward to welcoming any new residents into the shire.”

Over the next month, Quilpie will also see more housing with two four-bedroom houses set to arrive and a further two expected by June 2023.

Council has also secured a $2 million grant through the Queensland Government to redevelop the Old Works Depot in Quilpie into six 2-3 bed townhouse villas, with demolition expected to commence in the first quarter of 2023.

With a shire population that is currently around 800, Quilpie is located 1000km west of Brisbane and has amenities including supermarkets, a butchery, bakery, newsagent, hairdressers, retail shops, a hospital, medical centre, pharmacy, two schools (Prep to year 10), early learning centre, community gym, sporting ovals, tennis and basketball courts, free swimming pools, weekly flights and an abundance of open space.

Originally published as Landmark Home Owner Grant offered by regional Queensland council giving $20,000 to new owners