The Property Council has welcomed Brisbane City Council's support for purpose built rental accommodation (Build-to-Rent), announced today through the release of its Sustainable Growth Strategy.
The Strategy brings together existing and new initiatives to plan for and support the delivery of housing in Brisbane, and builds on the work undertaken last year through the Queensland Housing Summit.
Property Council Queensland Executive Director, Jen Williams, explained that Queensland's housing crisis has led to a shortfall of all housing types, including the need for more than 50,000 rental dwellings across the state.
"At the Queensland Housing Summit in October, Treasurer Cameron Dick revealed the true scale of the shortfall of housing across the state," she said.
"Despite the focus of both the public and private sectors, supply has not improved over the past few months. Affordability and availability of housing remain a major issue for all Queenslanders.
"Council's Strategy contains welcome acknowledgement of the role the Build-to-Rent sector can play in addressing this crisis, and through new incentives, provides an important signal to industry it is keen to facilitate more of this type of development.
"Through the Outcomes Report from the Housing Summit, the Queensland Government also committed to consider the introduction of land tax concessions for purpose built rental accommodation.
"Council's initiatives, combined with a land tax concession, would provide enough support for many vital developments to proceed in this challenging market.
"Along with support for Build-to-Rent, the Property Council welcomes the Strategy's acknowledgement of the need to increase housing diversity and unlock further supply in areas well-serviced by infrastructure.
"Council's ongoing commitment to infrastructure charges, rates, and development assessment fee concessions for social and affordable housing is commended.
"As the Strategy points to many new and existing bodies of work being undertaken by both Council and the State Government, the timing of those initiatives being completed and how they work in conjunction with one another will be vital in delivering a tangible uplift in supply over a 'business as usual' approach.
"The Property Council looks forward to working with both local and State Government over the coming months on implementing the key actions from the Housing Summit Outcomes Report to ensure that Queensland continues to take bold steps to respond to the housing crisis," Ms Williams said.
