Agency calls for focus on housing
VERY high housing occupancy, strong employment levels and very good ongoing employment demand across North Queensland require a collective focus on creating new households as soon as possible, Knight Frank says.
Craig Stack, senior partner at Knight Frank, says the high demand for employees across the region means we need a variety of skilled and unskilled labour making North Queensland home.
“The need to create new housing as quickly as we practically can has to be understood by councils and state agencies, and embraced by the development industry,” Mr Stack said. “Having employment growth in front of us is far better than the alternative but with residential occupancy rates above 99 per cent from Rockhampton north to Cairns, a lack of housing supply is an issue that can impact the whole of North Queensland and needs focus.”
Knight Frank estimates there are more than 2000 construction jobs yet to be released with more projects likely to be announced in the next six months
“It is the operational workforces these projects will then require, along with the employees already needed in established local businesses in North Queensland, that will likely create a major housing challenge, and a challenge shared is a challenge halved,” Mr Stack said.
He said less than half the number of houses and units were approved for urban areas in North Queensland in the past five years than in any other five-year period in two generations so development capacity needed to be increased quickly.
A focus towards medium density housing was part of the solution for getting as many households constructed in the shortest amount of time. “There have been very few new medium density projects created in North Queensland in the past decade because the viability for development has not existed,” Mr Stack said.
“Prices are now rising in North
Queensland and viability will steadily return but this could still be several years away and new households are needed sooner than that.”
Knight Frank believes a threeyear moratorium on infrastructure charges for medium density development in well serviced suburbs with capacity is the first step that councils can make to bring forward development viability.
“We need the development industry to step up as quickly as possible and this type of encouragement is necessary,” Mr Stack said.
“The last time this happened was in the mid-2000s and the state government began buying land for development for affordable accommodation and the federal government then created the National Rental Affordability Scheme.
“It would be far better for the community if the private sector created the new households that are urgently needed.
“This is a genuinely strong opportunity to enhance economic sustainability in North Queensland and the worst thing that can occur is if people are attracted to relocate north because of work and cannot be accommodated.”