Greater Whitsunday Communities (GWC) and Regional Development Australia Greater Whitsunday (RDA) have partnered and initiated the housing project to identify collaboratively a solution to the housing stress being felt across the Greater Whitsunday region.
Stakeholders from across the housing industry came together in October 2022 to guide the project. The first initiative in December 2022 was to hold a housing round table where the following key themes emerged from the consultation:
1. availability as well as choice and diversity
2. affordability
3. consumer needs
4. roles and responsibilities.
A social and emergency accommodation working group has also been established to investigate safe sleeping spaces, storage facilities and mapping possible options for repurposing of housing.
Urbis have been engaged to carry out a research component to identify the baseline data and look at the current and future needs of all sections of the housing supply chain. The research has shown that there are around 1600 people on the social housing waitlist, 30 per cent decline in rental stock, one in four households in rental stress, 1452 households in mortgage stress, 16 per cent higher build cost in the region and housing supply is decreasing.
Key areas have been identified from the research: possible formation of a housing alliance, collaboration and partnerships, enabling the market, increasing social and affordable housing, planning and infrastructure, government leadership and advocacy action. These will form the bases of the co-design workshops at the summit.
The housing summit will be held on August 15 at the Mackay Turf Club. Currently, there are 120 attendees registered to participate in the summit. The summit will use the Urbis research to develop solutions to address the Mackay, Isaac and Whitsunday housing issues.
If you have an interest or are part of the housing supply chain e.g., local, state and federal governments, developers, builders, not-for-profit housing providers, industry bodies, housing support services, real estate agents please consider registering to attend the summit to be part of the housing solution.
www.greaterwhitsundaycommunities.org.au
Housing Summit: August 15, contact Greater Whitsunday Communities to register.
Cr Karen May
Deputy Mayor
Mackay Regional Council
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