$50k grants made available for Qld community housing sector

The grants build on the $5 billion allocation for social and affordable housing in order to help deliver 13,500 homes and make up part of Community Housing Futures, an initiative for the community housing sector being delivered by Q Shelter, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Housing Queensland, and the Community Housing Industry Association of Queensland, in partnership with the Palaszczuk government.

The grants will go towards covering the cost of specialist advice and services to eligible community housing providers and support them in building capacity to deliver more housing solutions across Queensland.

Queensland Housing Minister, Meaghan Scanlon, said the state government is acting on “several fronts to put more housing out into the market”.

“We’d like to see more community housing providers partner with developers, builders, institutional investors, and superannuation funds to develop, finance, and operate social and affordable housing across Queensland,” Ms Scanlon said.

“Industry told us that in order to grow housing supply, community housing providers also need to grow and this requires strengthening their skills in areas including property development, financial capability, governance, and planning.

“By partnering with Queensland’s three peak community housing bodies to build these resources, tools and programs, we’re confident that community housing organisations in Queensland will benefit, as will thousands of their tenants.”

Community Housing Industry Association of Queensland executive officer Annemaree Callander said the industry body has a “vital role to play in responding to current and future housing demand”.

“The Community Housing Futures Program will help community housing organisations deliver increased supply of social and affordable housing and most importantly create homes for people in need,” Ms Callander said.

Social Housing Accelerator

Additionally, the federal government recently announced a new $2 billion investment — the Social Housing Accelerator — aimed at delivering thousands of new social homes across the country.

The payment will be split between state and territory governments within the next two weeks to increase housing supply sooner and move more Australians off social housing waiting lists.

The Social Housing Accelerator continues the work of the new National Housing Accord, which aims to build 1 million new homes over five years from 2024.

The Albanese government’s investment in housing and homelessness now totals more than $9.5 billion with the addition of this $2 billion funding.

Queensland is set to receive $398 million from the investment, the Albanese government confirmed.

[RELATED: Labor announces $2bn social housing investment]