Moreton Bay makes first move

Moreton Bay Regional Council offering to waive all development fees and infrastructure charges, to boost private sector construction of affordable social housing.

Mayor Peter Flannery said with Australia facing a housing crisis, Moreton Bay was pulling out all the stops to help. Around 1200 people are considered homeless in this region.

Target areas for Council's Attraction of Affordable Social Housing Policy include Caboolture, Morayfield, Redcliffe, Deception Bay, Burpengary, Lawnton, Strathpine, Albany Creek and Arana Hills.

The offer has been timed ahead of an industry briefing on the State Government’s $2 billion Housing Investment Fund hosted by Queensland Treasury on March 15.

“We want the developers in that room to know Moreton Bay has a swag of incentives for them and we want them to know this region is ready to do business now,” he said.

'Sweeten the deal'

“We’ve already slashed the usual red tape and we’re willing to sweeten the deal further by saving them hundreds of thousands of dollars on construction.

“Moreton Bay’s affordability is one of its most attractive qualities, which means we need to prioritise investment in affordable housing as our population booms.

“There are no hidden costs. The facility will just need to be managed by a community housing provider, but the building can remain privately owned by the developer.”

UDIA Queensland Moreton Bay President Keith Cairns said there is a “critical need for all forms of additional housing in the region”.

“This incentive means there will be more of an appetite for developers to invest in housing that keeps the most vulnerable members of our community in homes they can afford,” he said.

Stepping up

“Moreton Bay’s proactive policy is a great example of how all levels of government can step up to address the nation’s housing crisis.”

Encircle Community Services CEO Chris Stains also applauded Council’s policy saying it “will make a difference”.

“Linking private sector investment and development know-how to cooperation with community housing provider’s operational experience is a smart move for the partners involved and the people of Moreton Bay,” he said.

“Community Housing providers and Not-for-Profit organisations like Encircle are used to working in partnership and we’re good at it.”

The Mayor said statistically Moreton Bay faces an unprecedented rise in homelessness: “Between the 2011 and 2016 census homelessness increased 57 per cent here,” he said.

Turn this around

“That’s faster than Brisbane on 39 per cent, the Sunshine Coast 6 per cent and far too high above the Queensland average of 9 per cent.

“Council only has a certain number of leavers to pull to help turn this situation around, so Moreton Bay is pulling all of them.

Attraction of Affordable Social Housing Policy:

• No cap on remissions of infrastructure & application charges on the Affordable Social Housing portion for those developments in the identified Priority Affordable Social Housing Area
• No restrictions on who can apply (subject to Policy requirements)
• Can be mixed-use developments or other residential housing which is not required to be Affordable Social Housing (remission would only apply to Affordable Social Housing aspect)