Developers to councillors: ‘We need more vacant land’

ONE of the leading voices in the development industry has called on the TRC to increase the amount of vacant land..

Hallmark Property’s Geoff Kath.

ONE of the leading voices in Toowoomba's development industry has called on the council to drastically increase the amount of vacant land, following a "positive" meeting this week.

Hallmark Property's Geoff Kath addressed the councillors at a special closed meeting yesterday over the amount of developable land in the TRC's priority infrastructure area (PIA) mapping.

The meeting also featured members of the council's planning and development group and officials from the State Government.

Mr Kath, who spoke for 45 minutes on the issue of land availability, said the Toowoomba region was headed for a dire situation in the coming 12 months.

"I think it was a positive meeting and I'm hoping we can move forward to get some outcomes," he said.

"The area of concern at the present time is the current land stocks are being consumed faster than they're being replaced.

"It's a capacity issue - the actual amount of available developable land is much less than what council needs.

"We're saying that the PIA needs to be increased and it needs to be done urgently."

Mr Kath said there was a big difference between the amount of land the council believed was available for development, and the amount there actually was.

"It's never been audited for the past number of years - the amount that council understands is there is not reflective of what's on the ground," he said.

"They have been reporting the amount of stock being approved, but somehow there's a lack of checking over some years, so that the land is nowhere near what is expected.

"(Also) the land that is available, some of it is in areas that are not desirable to the buyer of vacant lots.

"To give you an example, Toowoomba needs between 700 to 1000 lots approved every year to meet normal demand.

"In the last six months, there have been 70 approved, and that's not just due to COVID (because) in the past 12 months there have been 120 approved."

It comes at a time when Toowoomba's rental vacancy rate is hovering around one per cent, with some agencies reporting almost no available properties.

Mr Kath said if new land wasn't made available, residents would find themselves struggling to find properties.

"You also have a very low vacancy rate, so the REIQ reports the vacancy rate is about 1.2 per cent, but we've got reports that show it at zero or 0.3 per cent," he said.

"This is a precursor for increasing house values and land values, so it pushes up the price of housing, rents and yields.

"Once you get below one per cent, you get to the stage where the houses offered are not good.

"We've had reports showing land prices have risen in the past 12 months by as much as 20 per cent (in Toowoomba), which is unheard of right now."

Cr Megan O'Hara Sullivan.

Planning and development chair Cr Megan O'Hara Sullivan said the meeting was productive for the councillors.

"I think that there was a conversation rather than people in different corners - there was a preparedness to listen on both sides," she said.

"There were areas where council was prepared to listen to.

"It did feel quite positive."