On 19 April 2023, Dr Amy MacMahon, Member for South Brisbane, introduced the Planning (Inclusionary Zoning Strategy) Amendment Bill 2023 into the Queensland Parliament, part of a broader Greens plan to get Queensland out of the housing crisis.
The purposes of the Bill are to a) build housing via requiring developers to do so and b) integrate public housing with other residential areas in order to maximise social inclusion.
The Bill proposes to achieve these objectives by enacting an inclusionary zoning strategy under which developers will be required to dedicate 25 per cent of new residential dwellings, including apartment buildings and housing estates, as public housing.
Dr MacMahon said since 2018 the social housing register has nearly doubled and 46,000 of the state’s most vulnerable people are living in insecure housing or are homeless while they wait for public housing.
“It is estimated that another 300,000 low-income Queenslanders are in critical housing stress due to record low rental availability and skyrocketing rent increases.
Dr MacMahon said decades of failing to see public housing as an essential public need, compounded with the pressures of the pandemic, have massively impacted Queensland’s housing sector.
According to a report published by Professor Paulsen from the University of New South Wales, 300,000 Queenslanders are in critical housing stress due to record low rental availability and unaffordable rents.
“Combined with a cost-of-living crisis and falling real wages, everyday working families are left to wonder if they will be able to keep a roof over their heads.”
Dr MacMahon said the Bill proposes that for all residential development projects and residential subdivision projects completed on or after 1 July 2024, at least 25 per cent of those dwellings are to be transferred to the government for public housing.
“The strategy requires that public housing dwellings will be finished to the same standard and have the same features as other dwellings in the development, including size and floor area.”
The Bill has been referred to the State Development and Regional Industries Committee for detailed consideration.
The Committee invites submissions addressing any aspect of the Bill from all interested parties by 16 June 2023. Click here to make a submission.
Documents relating to the committee’s inquiry, including the Bill, explanatory notes and introductory speech, can be viewed on the committee’s webpage..
The Bill requires the Queensland Government to introduce the strategy into Queensland Parliament within two months of the Bill’s date of assent.