Background

RDA Townsville and North West Queensland’s Modular Housing Pilot Project aims to address one of the biggest issues facing rural and regional towns – housing availability.

The pilot positions RDA Townsville as a trailblazer in addressing regional housing challenges. The modular housing model has the capacity to deliver versatile, affordable and scalable housing solutions which could be replicated across regional Australia.

Housing demand is not limited to the immediate need for accommodation solutions. Townsville is now a magnet for investment in North Queensland, generating economic and employment opportunities for the region.

One example is the influx of workers and their families on the back of the $5 billion CopperString 2032 announcement  – a massive project providing energy certainty to the region’s burgeoning critical minerals sector. Based in North West Queensland, construction will commence in 2024 and is expected to support 800 direct jobs over 6 years and thousands more for the region.

The Project

In Townsville, like in many regions, staff attraction and retention are crucial for ongoing and sustainable regional development. The cost of building houses is often prohibitive due to challenges in freight costs and the limited availability of trades. Lack of accessibility to affordable housing and services remains a significant barrier to domestic migration.

Recognising these barriers, the Modular Housing Pilot Project was developed to address housing accessibility for people working in the local government sector. The pilot’s aim is to provide a pipeline of more affordable quality housing to ease supply pressure and enable growth and prosperity across the region.

During the development stage, a second significant benefit was revealed.  By boosting house availability, local governments are more likely to sell off older housing stock to the market. In turn, this allows local governments to reinvest the proceeds in additional housing stock or new land developments, thereby unlocking tied-up capital.

The Modular Housing Pilot Project underscores the vital role councils and the RDA have to play in addressing local issues and driving place-based solutions. The project provides a blueprint for collaboration with the Australian and Queensland Governments, and 14 Local Government Areas (LGAs) to address housing supply and availability. There is also the potential to unlock capital for more sustainable and environmentally friendly housing solutions.

By fostering collaboration among LGAs in the RDA Townsville and North West Queensland, the project demonstrates tangible action to address short and long-term housing needs. With more investment and industry growth, the demand for housing stock is accelerating.

The RDA is now seeking and evaluating funding to kick-start this project to deliver:

• Significant cost reductions
• fast construction timeframes
• versatile designs
• capacity to upscale, as required
• ability to include or exclude installation based on availability of local trades.

Benefits to the region

Subject to funding outcomes, the first proposed stage aims to deliver 50 new houses across the Townsville and North West Queensland RDA region.

RDA Townsville and North West Queensland is committed to sharing insights, best practices, and lessons learned with other RDAs and government bodies, fostering a collaborative approach to solving a nationwide issue.

Learn more: What does CopperString mean for Queensland

Published 1/11/2023