Fees and Charges Waived for BHC to Create 82 New Affordable Homes
Published 31 July 2023
Council has waived over $1 million worth of infrastructure charges and development application fees for Brisbane Housing Company (BHC) to construct 82 new accessible social and affordable homes for older residents, in a bid to tackle growing homelessness and housing affordability concerns.
The BHC project is being constructed at 99 Sutton Street, Redcliffe, as part of the Queensland State Government’s Housing Investment Fund.
City of Moreton Bay Mayor Peter Flannery said the level of housing need here wasn’t unique to this part of SEQ, but Council’s proactive approach to help addressing the issue had put Moreton Bay at the forefront of delivering new solutions.
“This exciting new project at 99 Sutton Street in Redcliffe is proof that by thinking outside the box we can support great outcomes quickly and effectively,” Mayor Flannery said.
“We only just launched our new Attraction of Affordable Social Housing Development Policy in March, which BHC jumped on immediately, and now just four months later we’ve already entered into an infrastructure agreement.
“It means they won’t pay any Council infrastructure fees or charges on this affordable and social housing project, saving them $1.025 million.
“We’ve seen homelessness grow by 92% over the past decade across City of Moreton Bay, and reports of homelessness and people sleeping in public spaces have increased significantly.
“The policy further incentivises community housing providers and developers to work together by waiving up to 100% of Council fees and charges in 15 priority suburbs and providing significant discounts in a further eight suburbs.”
BHC Chief Executive Officer Rebecca Oelkers said that these kinds of proactive measures make an enormous difference to community housing providers like BHC, meaning more projects like Sutton Street will be able to get off the ground.
“BHC applauds the City of Moreton Bay for its leadership with these crucial planning and policy amendments, which are already resulting in better social and affordable housing outcomes for the city’s residents,” she said.
“We know that right across Australia so many people are struggling to find a safe and affordable home and we hope that other councils will follow the City of Moreton Bay’s impressive lead in reducing the barriers to bringing these developments to life.”
Mayor Flannery said homelessness is a complex issue that needs to be addressed through a number of different approaches and all three levels of government working together.
"Council recently completed our new Community Wellbeing Strategy which commits us to the development of a Housing and Homelessness Action Plan to help build on our role locally,” Mayor Flannery said.
“We’ve contributed $3.75 million towards construction of a new $6.75 million homelessness hub in Redcliffe to help provide vital services where it’s needed most, with $3 million coming from the State Government.
“We’ve also supported local not-for-profit The Breakfast Club with a $50,000 grant to help purchase the services of Sleepbus - a mobile temporary accommodation service that can provide over 7,000 safe sleeps per year for people who are doing it tough and help link them up to the support services they need.
“This is just the beginning of what can be achieved when all three levels of government work together with the community and the private sector to create real social change.”