Regional councils tackle housing shortages to bring new people to town

The grant almost covers the price of a block of land in south-west Queensland's Quilpie Shire.

It's part of the council's goal to boost the population of about 800 back up to 1000 people.

Quilpie Shire Council chief executive Justin Hancock told ACM they had more than 600 enquiries when the program launched in 2021, with a $12,500 subsidy.

In line with rising land valuations, the council has now upped the offer to $20,000.

"Council is committed to growing our community and they thought the best way of doing that was putting up a financial incentive to get people to move to the region," Mr Hancock said.

"If you're an advocate for your community and you want people to move out and say that you've got the best town in Australia, then you want to put some money behind that."

Eight blocks of land have been sold since the incentive was first flagged, already surpassing the "modest goal" of selling five.

The housing shortage has been so dire in the past the council has held off advertising job vacancies with nowhere for newcomers to live.

It's something Mr Hancock knows too well, after being forced to live in a retirement village when he first moved to Quilpie.

Regional Australia Institute chief executive Liz Ritchie said "time and time again" regional communities took a creative approach to attract and recruit newcomers.

Such was the case when the the NSW town of Temora lost its only GP.

In response, the community recorded a viral music video inviting a new doctor to take up the vacancy.

Ms Ritchie said it showed how important making a personal connection could be to successfully attracting people.

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North-east of Brisbane, Western Downs Regional Council launched a $1 million housing and land incentive in mid-2022.

Facing low rental availability and jobs growth, the council is offering discounts on application fees and infrastructure charges for approved developments.

Mayor Paul McVeigh told ACM more houses were needed in the region for the number of jobs available, amid a surge in local industries.

"The incentive aims to really stimulate the development of units, duplexes, multiple dwellings and also the subdivision of land," he said.

"In a lot of our towns we have large blocks, so there's an opportunity to subdivide a 2000sqm block into a 1000 sqm block or a little bit less.

"And it's not just for the big developers, this is for our local mums, dads and families, if they have an opportunity that may give them a better prospect to be able to retire with as well."

Ms Ritchie told ACM the top barrier for people moving to the regions was housing availability.

"With the onset of COVID we had this turbo charge, as we describe it, of people movement," she said.

"What that's done is really put liveability under the spotlight, because we were in some ways caught short in terms of housing and the services that wraparound."

Ms Ritchie said the institute was concerned government initiatives to address housing could "compound the issue in places that need it least".

"Blanket policies don't work," she said.

"You've got to get a little bit more detailed and nuanced when it comes to regional, because you can't respond in the same way to cities as you can to small regional and remote places."

Doing an "amenity audit" was also key for regional communities to ensure the services people would expect, such as healthcare, education and childcare, were available.

So why do people move to the regions?

"It basically comes back to more time, more space, more connection to natural amenity and the environment," Ms Ritchie said.

"There's also a desire to have less debt, less stress and less congestion - so there's a real wellbeing component to a person considering leaving."