Hope is in store for Queensland residents faced with housing supply challenges, as indicated by the influx of mechanisms being introduced to support the streamlining of critical infrastructure projects – with an emphasis on unlocking under-utilised land for residential use.
As South-East Queensland continues to experience significant population growth, in combination with rapidly changing work and lifestyle arrangements, it is no wonder that many see no way out of the state’s current housing crisis.
Compared to 2017, the rate of homelessness in Queensland has increased by 22% – far beyond the 8% growth averaged across the nation across this same period. Furthermore, research completed by SQM has revealed a 16.7% increase in the average asking cost demanded by landlords to secure a unit in inner-city Brisbane over the last 12-months.
According to Queensland Council of Social Service chief executive Aimee McVeigh, housing and rental pressures across SEQ have descended socio-economically disadvantaged residents into a state of ‘absolute crisis’, with many Queensland’s forced to take up indefinite residence in cars and tents.
So how can increased support for critical infrastructure assist in solving our housing crisis?
At Articulous, we believe that embedding responses to a variety of critical challenges into infrastructure project design will assist in reducing the burden of such constraints.
As of November 2022, it appears that the Australian National Housing Infrastructure Facility (NHIF) is aligned with this way of thinking, offering increased support for projects which lend themselves to unlocking other potential developments.
In addition to the $575 million available for loaned investment into new affordable or social housing projects, the NHIF is distinctly interested in financing housing-enabling infrastructure, such as those centred on:
- Electricity and gas
- Water Sewerage and Storm Water
- Transportation, including roads
- Telecommunication
Reaching the critical targets needed to support thriving, safe and infrastructure-supported communities ensures that residential growth can occur throughout the nation in a variety of growing precincts.
NHIF supported financing can also be granted to those looking to contribute to demolition and site remediation efforts on unused sites, including the removal of hazardous or contaminated waste, which will further activate land use.
To read more about the other government supported projects working to alleviate housing crisis concerns, you can read about the $50 million Growth Acceleration Fund here and the $150 million Catalyst Infrastructure Fund (CIF) here.
