The State Government recently made an announcement that it aims to build nearly 900 Build to Rent and affordable homes aimed at key workers and students on the Gold Coast. The Property Council of Australia has welcomed this sentiment.
The announcement follows the release of the Property Council’s Beyond Reach research in June, which revealed that essential workers such as nurses, police officers, and teachers were effectively priced out of the South-East Queensland housing market.
Property Council of Australia Queensland Executive Director Jess Caire said the announcement was welcome and showed what was possible when government looked to partner with the private sector to identify solutions to the housing crisis.
She also highlighted the importance of Build to Rent homes in providing housing for frontline workers and students.
“The announcement will respond to two major gaps in Queensland’s housing market – it provides more Build to Rent housing as well as much needed housing for frontline workers and students.
“The Property Council has long championed Build to Rent as essential in providing well located and affordable housing for key workers.
“As our Beyond Reach research sadly illustrated, unless we embrace new product types such as Build to Rent, it will be extremely challenging for essential workers to find housing in many of the areas where they are needed.
“The announcement also shows the potential of government working in tandem with the private sector to leverage the property industry’s knowledge to deliver housing more efficiently and cheaply.
“Original estimates suggested the site would only deliver 500 new dwellings, but by going out to the market they managed to identify a proposal that could deliver 878 new homes instead. The Property Council urges the State Government to continue to look for ways to partner with the private sector to deliver homes on government owned land and within Priority Development Areas.”
Jess Caire, Queensland Executive, Property Council of Australia
This comment follows the Property Council of Australia appearing before the Senate Economics Legislation Committee this month, urging modifications to the proposed Build to Rent legislation, and calling on Parliament to help fix the housing crisis by accepting compromise legislation that will unlock 105,000 Build to Rent homes by 2034.
