Queensland faces critical housing shortfall as building targets missed by 36 per cent

Queensland needs to boost its annual housing construction by 18,000 homes to address the state’s growing accommodation crisis, the Housing Industry Association has warned.

The state is currently building about 32,000 homes annually, falling well short of the 50,000 homes needed yearly to resolve the housing crisis within a decade.

HIA Executive Director Queensland, Michael Roberts, called for decisive action from the incoming government elected on October 26.

“When any individual, group, union or recalcitrant or revenue-seeking Council obstructs housing development, the outcome is more people living in tents in our parks,” Roberts said.

He urged the new state government to streamline development processes and reduce obstacles to construction.

The shortfall has highlighted the need for diverse housing solutions across Queensland.

“For industry to deliver the homes we need, all cylinders have to be firing. We need more detached homes, more multi-residential in duplexes, triplexes, townhouses, terraces and small unit blocks, and we need more unit towers to go ahead as well,” Roberts said.

The HIA believes public sentiment towards development is shifting as the housing crisis deepens.

Roberts said community understanding had grown about the necessity for housing development “in all forms and in every viable location.”

The industry body has called for greater government intervention to expedite stalled development applications.

Roberts emphasised the need for quick government action to “overcome hurdles, help make projects more viable and get them moving.”