Homes for Queenslanders: Immediate housing relief expanded to all Queenslanders

• Emergency accommodation program expanded to include individuals and couples
• Quarterly social housing data release shows another decrease in social housing applications 
• More assistance to support Queensland families in housing stress

The Miles Government is ensuring all people who need support can access safe, emergency accommodation – expanding millions of dollars of emergency family accommodation funding to all Queenslanders.

As part of the Homes for Queenslanders plan, the existing Immediate Housing Relief for Families program has been expanded to include anyone at risk of homelessness – including individuals and couples.

This program provides funding directly for emergency accommodation. 

The extra support comes as new social housing data shows 1770 households have been allocated social housing to date in the 2023/2024 financial year.

The report shows social housing demand has continued to stabilise in the past 90 days, as applications reduced by 371 applications from 25,362 to 24,991.

The register shows the government has helped more people into social housing in the last quarter, with 924 households allocated housing, topping the 848 in the September data.

The highest demand for social housing continues to come from single person households or couples.

The Government has also moved to provide larger homes to the social housing portfolio to support housing applications from larger households. 

Many households on the register have already been assisted with other solutions such as bond loans and rental grants. This means the person or family may have been helped to secure a home in the private rental market but remain on the register.

In the last quarter we have increased rental support to $11.8 million while also setting up dedicated rent relief package under our Homes for Queenslanders plan.

The Housing Register is a point-in-time register of social housing applications.

The government actively works with all households on the register to meet their immediate housing needs.

Quotes attributable to Housing Minister Meaghan Scanlon

“Everyone deserves the safety and security of a roof over their head – our Homes for Queenslanders plan is delivering record investment to make that a reality.

“Homes for Queenslanders will deliver thousands and thousands of new social housing homes across our state.

“We’re also delivering upfront support for people right now, including funding for emergency accommodation and direct cost of living relief for renters, while we get on with our Big Build.”

ENDS

Media contact: Francis Dela Cruz – 0420 592 078 and Robyn Wuth – 0461 555 208