Affordable housing numbers in Queensland are increasing, according to information from the Department of Housing and Brisbane Housing Company.
Scott Chandler, Media Advisor to Queensland Minister for Housing, Robert Schwarten, said that 15 million dollars funding had been committed to thee Gold Coast Housing Company over the next three years.
This was in addition to funding already provided to Brisbane Housing Company, which has so far built 579 affordable housing units in Brisbane since it commenced operation in 2002.
Brisbane Housing Company CEO, David Cant, reported that a further 316 units were projected in the near future, in Brisbane suburbs.
BHC has planned to build 5,000 units over the next 10 years, with funding from Department of Housing and Brisbane City Council.
Alan Bray, Deputy CEO of Y-Care, operated by the YMCA at Fortitude Valley, also said 62 units were under construction by his organisation, with funding by the Department of Housing. Affordable Housing Initiative.
Whitsunday Hinterland and Mackay Bowen Regional Organisation of Councils, among several other organisations, had also received affordable housing funding.
According to the Department of Housing website, affordable housing projects consider appropriateness of the dwelling, housing and social mix, tenure, choice, location, quality and cost, to support the supply of affordable housing by the private and not-for-profit sectors.
Mr Chandler said the Housing Department provides grant funding to community organisations or local governments for affordable housing purposes, with rent setting to be determined on a case-by-case basis.
Brisbane Housing Company currently sets rents at 75% of the market value of the area in which its units are located, with rents starting from $100 for boarding rooms, $134 for 1 bedroom apartments, and up to $239 for 3 bedroom apartments.
The target group for affordable housing projects are those eligible for social housing, Mr Chandler said.
A spokesperson for the Brisbane Homelessness Service Centre said that more needed to be done for the homeless, stating “just take a walk along the Brisbane River” to draw attention to the number of people “sleeping rough” in the city.
Craig Hill
15th June 2007
Craig Hill Media and Consulting 
Craig, First of all I feel guilty about not realizing the financial trouble that Australia must have been in around 2007. I am surprised that we did not hear more about it in our TV news broadcasts. We (here in the US) must have been buried in our wars.
Apparently your government and charitable institutions stepped in and attempted to alleviate the problem with housing. A side question; Do the renters of these low income housing units take care of them? We have had mixed results in our subsidized housing here.
Posted by Waldo "Wally" Tomosky | February 24, 2012, 22:03The Government outsourced the affordable housing, but it appears the “charitable” organisations, because they are not regulated, made a mess of it. I have only just returned to Australia, and it appears the Government is now administering the affordable housing again, with stricter regulations and less authority for the private organisations.
Posted by Craig Hill | February 24, 2012, 22:11While characterizing U.S. subsidized housing as having mixed results is true, it still leaves the dire problem of administrative chaos in the administration and enforcement issues surrounding these programs. Quoting Gunnery Sergeant Highway, from the movie, “Heartbreak Ridge”(1986):
Dialogue (from the script):
Col. Meyers: [during a readiness exercise]: What’s your assessment of this situation, Gunny?
Highway: It’s a cluster fuck, sir.
Col. Meyers: Say again?
Highway: Marines are fighting men. They shouldn’t be sitting around on their sorry asses filling out request forms for equipment they should already have, sir.
Posted by mulrickillion | February 26, 2012, 19:18The problem with the social sector in Australia is that it is almost totally unregulated, and run by untrained volunteers, and unqualified administrators. It is not just the problem of over administration, but also lack of skills by staff in the jobs they are doing. While the people mean well, they are not provided with skills and training, nor is their sufficient accountability, as exists in almost every other industry in Australia.
Posted by Craig Hill | February 26, 2012, 20:15