Incentives to fast-track the delivery of new homes are now available, Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner has announced.
Cr Schrinner today visited one of the first properties that will benefit from the incentives, a community housing project in Chermside that will deliver 92 new social and affordable homes.
“Brisbane is Australia’s fastest growing capital city and this is adding to the pressure on our housing sector from chronic labour shortages and supply chain disruptions,” he said.
“Our growth is also forecast to continue for many years to come with Brisbane’s population projected to increase by 457,000 to more than 1.7 million by 2046.
“We want to make housing more affordable by bringing down the cost of building.
“Our Housing Supply Action Plan will help tackle the current housing shortage by incentivising private industry and the community sector to kickstart construction sooner.
“This plan will ensure residents, regardless of whether they are owners, renters or social housing tenants, have opportunities to get into a home sooner.”
Cr Schrinner said 96 per cent of all new residential properties are delivered by the private sector so helping them deliver homes sooner is critical to solving the current housing shortage.
“The Housing Supply Action Plan will incentivise the building industry through reduced infrastructure charges for eligible projects,” he said.
“But the biggest winner will be our community housing providers, who will receive a 100 per cent permanent and ongoing reduction to make it even easier for them to deliver vital social housing.
“Under this landmark scheme our community housing providers will be able to save $1 million for every 100 homes they deliver.”
Brisbane Housing Company Chief Executive Officer Rebecca Oelkers said the infrastructure charges relief offered under Brisbane City Council’s Housing Supply Action Plan could deliver over $2 million in savings to BHC over our next three developments alone.
“For every 100 homes that we deliver, this could mean a saving of over $1 million in infrastructures charges, providing us with the opportunity to channel these valuable funds towards new supply,” Ms Oelkers said.
“We support Brisbane City Council’s leadership in assisting providers, like BHC, to deliver more housing outcomes for Brisbane residents in housing need.”
From today, the following Council’s infrastructure charge waivers are available:
- 75% reduction for studio, one and two-bedroom apartments within inner-city, high-density principal and major centre areas with an existing approval since 1 January 2022
- 75% reduction for studio, one and two-bedroom build-to-rent apartments with an existing approval since 1 January 2022
- 50% reduction for studio, one and two-bedroom apartments within inner-city, high-density principal and major centre areas approved from 1 September 2023 onwards
- 50% reduction for studio, one and two-bedroom build-to-rent apartments within inner-city, high-density principal and major centre areas approved from 1 September 2023 onwards
- 100% permanent and ongoing reduction for registered community housing providers
Cr Schrinner said the waivers were set to be formally adopted by full Council today and would reduce delivery costs for both the private sector and community housing providers.
“By facilitating the building of more homes in the right locations we’re helping create more homes sooner, while cutting down on urban sprawl and traffic congestion,” he said.
“All projects must be completed within four years and with around 3000 fully-approved homes already eligible we hope this initiative will accelerate delivery and put a roof over thousands of heads sooner.”
