Qld: SEQ development costs highest in nation: survey

AAP General News (Australia)
04-28-2010
Qld: SEQ development costs highest in nation: survey

BRISBANE, April 28 AAP - Developers in southeast Queensland face the highest infrastructure
costs in the nation, intensifying the state's housing shortage, the Property Council says.

The federal government's National Housing Supply Council State of Supply report, released
on Tuesday, showed the gap between supply and demand across the nation had increased by
about 78,800 homes in the year to June 2009, to 178,400.

The council found Queensland had a shortfall of 56,100 homes, behind only NSW on 57,600
- as planning, zoning, and slow development approvals take their toll.

Property Council Queensland executive director Steve Greenwood said the cost of producing
housing in southeast Queensland was substantially above most other states, intensifying
the housing shortage.

"Local government infrastructure charges for water supply, sewerage, parkland, drainage,
transport and road upgrades are the highest in the country," Mr Greenwood told AAP on
Wednesday.

"At $25,000, they are $10,000 above NSW and substantially above those in Victoria and
other states.

"This means that housing cannot be produced at a price that is affordable for much
of the market."

The report found the cost of developing a two-bedroom unit in Brisbane was $525,362,
second only to Sydney on $553,621.

Mr Greenwood said a bottleneck of development assessments was also pushing up prices
and worsening the housing shortage.

"Excessive development assessment timeframes in Queensland are also adding to the cost
of new housing with developers forced to pass on holding costs to purchasers," Mr Greenwood
said.

He said the state government needed to address infrastructure charges, development
assessment timeframes and land supply.

AAP ka/pjo/cdh

KEYWORD: GAP QLD

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