The Queensland Labor Government spent less per capita on social housing and increased its property portfolio by just 73 as the state s waiting list exploded to nearly 21,000 people last year. As the coronavirus pandemic bit for the state s most marginalised, the Government spent an extra $47 million on the problem, but didn t keep up with population growth. The expenditure per head was $132, down from $135 in 2018-19, and it was the second lowest spend rate in the country, according to the 2021 Report on Government Services. Housing Minister Leeanne Enoch It follows years of the Government talking up its plans to increase public housing. Despite spending $1.05 billion on social housing in 2019-20, there was 20,820 people waiting for public housing as at June 30, 2020 - up from 15,817 a year earlier.
Charity turns people away as Central Queensland homelessness crisis is tipped to be one of the nation s worst
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Roseberry Queensland s Colleen Tribe says the increase in demand for housing is driving up rental prices.
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Central Queensland’s homelessness crisis is forecast to become one of the worst in the nation next year, according to a new report by Equity Economics.
Key points: An Equity Economics report predicts there will be a 31.9 per cent increase in homelessness and a more than 55.2 per cent increase in housing stress in Central Queensland next year
Thousands more people in desperate need of social housing
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Thousands more people in desperate need of social housing
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The number of families and homeless people in desperate need of social housing in Queensland has surged, while thousands of bedrooms remain empty.
The number of applications to the social housing register deemed high need , meaning people are homeless or have multiple complex factors impacting their ability to sustain stable housing, has increased 82 per cent in 17 months, rising to 16,270 applications in September 2020.
The number of high need applications for social housing has increased by more than 7000 since April 2019.
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CONSTRUCTION of apartments worth more than $2 million will increase construction jobs and eventually provide social housing for Rockhampton residents.
The State Government will build five one-bedroom and two 2-bedroom apartments in Frenchville as part of its Works for Tradies program.
Hutchinson Builders project manager Dan McKenna said the Frenchville build was a $2.17 million project.
“Over 90 per cent of this value will be directly spent in the local community with only a small portion being spent elsewhere due to specialty supply items,” he said.
“It is being run from Hutchies local office of 11 years, which has 14 permanent local employees, four being directly involved in this project.