A Queensland council fed up with a paralysing housing shortage is taking matters into its own hands.
Sunshine Coast Mayor Mark Jamieson says his council is planning to build up to 100 affordable rental homes — most likely on council land — with the help of community housing groups and developers.
Experts say if the project succeeds, it could provide a blueprint for communities across the country.
The council would offer its land — and maybe some from the state — as a site for between 60 and 100 affordable rental homes to be ready within the next two years.
And it would supercharge the project by using its own planning levers to ensure the homes quickly meet guidelines.
Community 'desperate' for action
Cr Jamieson said the plan was "well advanced".
"We've got a crisis," he said.
"Our community is desperate to see things happen, not only those who require the housing but those who know someone who has been made homeless or a family who has been made homeless.
"We've got to find ways that are sustainable to do that.
"That's exactly what we've been looking at."
Cr Jamieson said the land had been chosen but he declined to reveal the location.
He said it would be somewhere where demand was high and the land was available.
He said the council was not intending to go it alone, having already met the state's premier, ministers and their federal counterparts.
"They are clearly aware of what it is we're seeking to do and how they need to play their role," he said.
Ending a crisis 100 homes at a time
Under the plan, the mayor and council would work with community housing groups to ensure the homes met the need and were properly managed.
Not-for-profit housing group Coast2Bay already manages more than 700 properties on the Sunshine Coast and beyond.
Chief executive Andrew Elvin said he had been in contact with the council since 2019 about taking a role in developing housing.
He said having the council involved would give projects more clout when seeking federal or state support.
"I think they're doing exactly the right thing," Mr Elvin said.
"They are one of the leading local governments in Queensland to try and address this issue."
With more than 30,000 people moving to the Sunshine Coast in 2022 alone, Mr Elvin said there needed to be about 800 extra affordable homes to meet demand.
"We have been identified as one of the areas [with] the most acute housing crisis," he said.
National experts praise 'novel' council plan
Michael Fotheringham heads the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute, which dives into policy both here and around the world.
Dr Fotheringham said similar plans were shown to work overseas but had been rarely tried in Australia.
He said it was "quite novel" and a "terrific innovation" for a local council to tackle the crisis, despite housing being often handled by state or federal governments.
"They're the ones who see this in their community, so they have a vested interest in getting involved," he said.
"It's a model we could be replicating in most local government areas across the country, regional councils, suburban councils, and inner cities.
"This ia great example of a council not waiting for that to happen, but getting ahead of it and getting on with the job."
What about the risks?
Dr Fotheringham said the combination of the council working with community housing groups meant it benefited from those already providing these types of homes.
He said the big risk was not necessarily financial.
"I guess it's a political one in residents saying 'We don't want to have that'," he said.
"I think the days of NIMBYism and not wanting to see affordable housing in our community are largely behind us.
"It needs to happen everywhere."
