Affordable housing is beyond the reach of most essential workers, with research showing nurses, childcare workers, police officers and teachers are unable to buy or rent a home on their own.
Property Council of Australia Queensland executive director Jess Caire said the Beyond Reach report’s findings paint a grim picture for home buyers and renters in key frontline roles.
“Most of south-east Queensland is a no-go zone for frontline workers hoping to get their foot on the property ladder,” Caire said. “These are the same people we rely on to save lives, fight crime and teach our children, and it will be Queensland’s loss when they are forced to choose a new career or a new state to live in because they can’t afford to live here.”
Essential workers cannot afford to rent or buy on their own in Brisbane, according to new research. Credit: Dan Peled
The report weighs the average household incomes for childcare workers, teachers, nurses, police and public servants against the median price for new and established homes, as well as apartments.
“The research shows no essential worker can afford to buy or rent a home, or unit, on their own in south-east Queensland,” Caire said. “For dual income families with an average gross income of $150,000, buying an established home is ranked ‘beyond reach’.
“It’s a similar story for house and land packages, which are deemed ‘unaffordable’.”
The first Beyond Reach report, published in 2007, predicted Queensland would face a housing crisis.
“Housing is more expensive than it needs to be, red tape is making it more difficult to deliver, and the slow pace of infrastructure delivery has made it harder to unlock new sites,” Caire said.