Build more homes, faster

Snapshot

  • $350 million to incentivise new homes close to underutilised infrastructure
  • Mandatory housing targets under regional plans
  • Fast-tracked updates to local council plans to deliver more housing
  • New Distinctly Queensland housing design standards that simplify approvals and shorten building times
  • Streamlined priority projects via a new State Facilitated Development process
  • Cost-conscious construction through modern methods of construction
  • Running inclusionary planning pilots
  • Funding for Queensland’s construction workforce
  • Progressing detailed investigation of supportive housing development at Ivory Street
  • Real targets for real supply
  • Legislative reforms to pull all supply levers
  • Short-Term Rental Registration Scheme

Queenslanders need more quality homes in the right locations, and these homes must be built faster than ever before.

The best thing we can do for housing affordability is deliver more supply. We have set our sights on delivering 1 million new homes by 2046.

With 95% of the state’s housing supply being delivered by the private sector, achieving this goal will require collaboration among government, the private sector and the community sector.

Some of the biggest changes are already taking place in our planning system. These will protect our uniquely Queensland lifestyle and greenspace as we grow, and facilitate reasonable and moderate development that will provide homes for Queenslanders in the places where they want to live and work.

We are updating our planning and development framework to give industry the direction and certainty it needs to confidently invest in Queensland’s housing sector.

We are also tackling constraints in the building sector to encourage more investment in the private housing market and get more new homes built in the shortest possible time.

What we're doing

Reviewing legislation for quicker decisions and certainty

We are reviewing our legislation to ensure that it covers all the options available to meet Queensland’s housing needs and can facilitate the growth and sustainability of social and affordable homes. We have introduced a package of reforms through the Housing Availability and Affordability (Planning and Other Legislation) Amendment Bill 2023 to simplify and expedite housing supply in the right locations when it’s urgently needed.

Real targets that mean real supply

We are leading the nation and putting funding, resources and skills into evidence-based planning decisions. We’re the only state that has set statutory dwelling supply targets (including by dwelling type for each council area). These targets recognise the uniqueness of our communities and respond to growth in a sustainable and balanced way.

One example is the South East Queensland Regional Plan (ShapingSEQ 2023). To deliver on ShapingSEQ 2023, we’ve invested in a new implementation team focused on monitoring supply and providing independent advice on levers to pull (e.g. process, policy or market) to unblock supply.

A new governance framework will ensure that the government regularly brings all parties together to keep us all accountable in our joint response to the housing challenge.

Unlocking land supply for development

We are unlocking land across the state for development, as the result of a comprehensive audit of state government land and buildings for a mixture of social and private housing.

The state government, in partnership with Economic Development Queensland (EDQ), investigating suitable sites identified through the land audit to continue to build a pipeline of land for development to deliver diverse housing options.

These sites will be assessed for their ability to deliver suitable housing outcomes, including social and affordable housing, to enable development in partnership with the private sector and community housing providers.

We will also continue to acquire other privately owned sites to ensure the ongoing delivery of social and affordable housing outcomes to meet the needs of vulnerable Queenslanders.

While we’re unlocking more land supply, the Department of Housing, Local Government, Planning and Public Works has a strong pipeline of more than 500 existing parcels of department-owned land, which are programmed for construction or identified as having development potential for future housing projects.

What's to come

Development where it’s needed

A $350 million fund to incentivise infill development will support the delivery of new housing in the right locations. The fund will include targeted support, including infrastructure charges relief, for increased density that is done well in existing urban areas, with a focus on locations with the greatest housing demand.

We will prioritise developments that can demonstrate their ability to come to market within a defined period and complement state policy priorities, such as those in place-based statutory regional plans like ShapingSEQ 2023, and other initiatives that provide multiple benefits.

New housing design standards for Queensland

We will develop a new Distinctly Queensland Design Series with the Queensland Government Architect. These standards will provide clear requirements that expedite the delivery of new homes, with a focus on viable, gentle density products. With design assurance provided by the state, housing diversity such as granny flats, tiny homes and secondary dwellings will have a clearer, more certain and consistent process. We will make it digital and easy to use. This will give all types of investors the confidence they need to invest in new types of housing.

Streamlined planning for faster housing

We will set up a state-facilitated development team to streamline decisions and quickly resolve planning and infrastructure issues that delay new homes, including social and affordable homes.

Planning for housing supply at the grassroots

Local governments will have access to $12.5 million of targeted, needs-based funding for strategic planning and planning scheme updates. This will help them ensure schemes meet residents’ housing needs and unlock homes in the right locations.

Piloting inclusionary planning in Queensland

Led by the new state-facilitated development team, the government will pilot inclusionary planning with incentives. We will do this in consultation with industry and community to show how inclusionary zoning can be implemented successfully. These pilots will assist us to learn by doing and develop a policy response that works for Queensland.

Affordable homes forever

The Queensland Government is exploring different mechanisms to enable a buyer to purchase a home at an affordable rate, including the use of covenants. We will explore ‘affordable in perpetuity’ types of mechanisms as part of state-facilitated developments.

Effective infill development

We are bringing forward an Infill Development Strategy to incentivise medium-scale, mixed-tenure housing projects in growth areas across Queensland. The strategy will promote infill development and gentle density through land consolidation, planning and infrastructure.

Growing the construction workforce

Queensland’s Big Build will need a larger workforce, but the residential building sector is already struggling to find enough skilled labour. To solve the problem, we’re investing more to train and secure a workforce to deliver more homes faster. The new Queensland Construction Workforce Fund will be guided by the Construction Workforce Roundtable, which partners with industry. It will fund initiatives to increase the number of apprentices and skilled workers, and address barriers to workforce participation.

Short-Term Rental Registration Scheme

We will conduct analysis and consultation to introduce a registration scheme for short-term rental properties like Airbnb. We will continue to monitor their impact on the broader supply of long-term rentals and whether more interventions are needed. We won’t stand in the way of councils making short-term rental policies that suit the needs of their communities.