Home Building in Queensland at Its Slowest Since 2013: Property Council

People work on new housing at North Lakes in Brisbane, Australia, on June 10, 2016. Glenn Hunt/Getty Images

As Queensland goes to the polls in the next 24 hours, the Property Council of Australia has urged all candidates to commit to fast-tracking the delivery of housing supply and providing more roofs over heads.

According to the Council, home building has ground to its slowest since 2013, with only 6,948 new homes built in the March quarter of 2024.

“Whoever forms government after the election faces an enormous challenge in ensuring a home for every Queenslander—a challenge that can only be overcome with meaningful policy change and engagement with the private sector,” said Jess Caire, executive director of the Property Council of Australia, in a statement.

Following the Property Council’s 2022 paper, A Home for Every Queenslander, the Queensland Labor government held a housing summit to unite government, industry, and community leaders to discuss ways to deal with the state’s housing crisis.

Yet, the Council says the introduction of new taxes has increased the cost of building.

“These hikes coincide with over 15 reforms affecting our housing sector, ranging from rental policies to property law,” Caire stated.

“While well-intentioned, the sheer volume of these changes has overwhelmed the industry with regulations, driving up costs and reducing the number of homes built.”

Caire stressed that the next government must act quickly with a supply-side approach and a reassessment of taxes.

“An independent review of Queensland’s tax regime is essential. It should involve industry input when setting terms of reference and guarantee no new or increased taxes or charges on the property sector.”

HIA Joins the Call

The Housing Industry Association (HIA) has also issued a statement asserting that every Queenslander deserves access to safe and secure housing.

“Achieving this outcome will rely on constructing over 45,000 new homes each year in Queensland over the next two decades, which will require the government to facilitate a new level of efficiency and productivity in the home-building industry,” the statement read.

The group also said Queensland faced an “unprecedented” housing supply crisis.

“Rental vacancy levels are close to zero, with the number of tents in city parks underscoring the problem. The residential building industry has faced immense pressure, with builders fatigued from challenging market conditions and burdened by new regulations.”

Housing: A Key Election Issue

Both leaders in the election campaign have committed to resolving the crisis.

During a recent debate, Queensland Labor Premier Steven Miles and Liberal’s David Crisafulli focused on affordability and supply.

Crisafulli criticised the government’s housing policies, noting that Brisbane had become Australia’s second-most expensive city. A typical mortgage now requires an annual income of $175,000 to service—more than twice the state’s median income.

Crisafulli proposed a $2 billion fund to encourage councils to expedite housing construction and promised to increase supply by building more homes.

He rejected rent caps, saying they were ineffective and stressed that housing developments must be supported by adequate infrastructure like schools and hospitals.

In response, Miles highlighted that the state government had reviewed and updated its infrastructure plan in Feb. 2024 and was actively working to address housing shortages.

He pointed to new housing projects already underway, arguing that Labor’s long-term strategy was addressing the crisis, albeit slower than desired.