E-Petition

Queensland residents draws to the attention of the House that Queensland's housing affordability crisis is critical, with prices skyrocketing over 40% post-COVID and rents continuing to break new record highs. While the government cites a supply shortage as the cause, numerous homes statewide remain vacant. Developers manipulate the market by drip feeding stock at a slow pace to maintain low supply, thus, driving up prices. A case in point is the Jewel tower in Surfers Paradise, where hundreds of apartments have stood vacant for more than three years post-completion. Additionally, land banking is prevalent, where properties are held unused for profit maximization. This occurs while families are driven out of housing affordability into tents amid escalating homelessness. Private developers will always put maximising profits above peoples need for housing and the government needs to step up and regulate it. Housing should be for people, not for profit. Policy is required to introduce a vacancy tax addressing this inefficiency and encourage the utilisation of the housing stock. This tax will incentivise property owners to release empty homes to the market, assisting to correct the artificial scarcity that benefits the few at the expense of many. The revenue raised from the tax can directly build public housing. As the housing crisis continues to get worse and homelessness grows at the fastest rate of any state.

Your petitioners, therefore, request the House to implement a vacancy levy without delay.