House wait times balloon

RESIDENTS in desperate need of social housing in Toowoomba are spending nearly two years on a waitlist.

Shocking new data released by the Queensland Council of Social Service has revealed the housing crisis is reaching boiling point, with wait times increasing by nearly 200 per cent in four years.

In 2017, residents who needed a roof over their head had to wait an average of 8.2 months.

That has since skyrocketed to 23.7 months in 2021, buoyed by a growing number of applications and a shortage of housing stock.

More than 650 applications for social housing in the Toowoomba Regional Council area were submitted this year, a significant spike from the nearly 400 four years prior.

“We have record low vacancy rates, the highest interstate migration rate in the country, and people sleeping with their children in their cars and in tents,” QCOSS CEO Aimee McVeigh said.

Lifeline Darling Downs and The Chronicle joined forces earlier this year in the call for the State Government to provide 600 new social houses to alleviate what was quickly beGovernment

coming a “crisis situation”.

The State Government committed $32 million to build 100 social houses in the Toowoomba region in the June

Budget – an investment that is part of the Queensland Housing Strategy Action Plan 2021-2025.

Ms McVeigh said the State investment, which will create more than 6000 new social houses by 2024 at a cost of $2.9 billion, was a “good first step”.

“The magnitude of the crisis our state is in requires a marathon, which must be run together by all levels of government,” she said.

“We need the Commonwealth, State and Local Government to work together to solve this crisis. In addition to addressing an unacceptable social issue, investment into social housing will create thousands of jobs in construction, the public sector and the community sector.

“It will mean that women escaping domestic violence, children, single mothers, older people and people with disability will have a place to call home.”

Opposition MPs have been critical of the State Government’s housing plan, with Toowoomba North member Trevor Watts calling for “immediate attention” to address the growing crisis.

Toowoomba residents have proposed alternative solutions, including using a “tiny house village” to house people experiencing homelessness.

These plans are yet to gain significant traction.