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Following the death of her aunty, with whom she shared a home, Julie Kelly was forced to join Queensland's long queue for social housing. The 62-year-old said the choice was either homelessness or accepting a one-bedroom unit in the rural North Burnett town of Gayndah, 150 kilometres away. "They told me there was nothing available in Bundaberg for me and it got to a very stressful stage," she said. "I was left with no other option." The disability pensioner said she had a history of cancer as well as other health concerns, and needed to travel almost two hours to see her regular doctor in Maryborough. But she said that did not seem to make a difference to the Department of Housing. "I tried to explain to them the medical situation and with all my medical problems," she said. "It just fell on deaf ears." She estimated the fortnightly round trip was costing her $100 in fuel. "The expense of travelling is getting astronomical," she said. "It is taking a toll, financially and health-wise." Joining the queue According to the Queensland Council of Social Service (QCOSS), the social housing register has grown to a record high of 56,000 people. That is higher than the government's data from August, which showed 53,874 people waiting for public housing. QCOSS chief executive officer Aimee McVeigh said the housing crisis was worsening. "We know that there are many families with children on the social housing register, people with disability and many First Nations households," she said. "People are not able to be allocated housing quickly because there is not enough stock." She said the private rental market had become completely unaffordable for many Queenslanders. "Not only are people unable to access social housing, but they're unable to afford rent in the private rental market," she said. "In the Bundaberg area, we've seen increases of almost 80 per cent in the median rent across the last five years." The average wait time for public housing is almost two and a half years, with vacancy rates less than 1 per cent. Not enough homes A spokesperson for the Department of Housing and Public Works said there were more than 5,600 social and affordable homes being delivered across the state, of which 1,000 were modular construction. The first two-storey modular social housing complex was recently completed in Bundaberg and is expected to be fully tenanted by the end of the month. The complex includes 12 one-bedroom and two-bedroom units that were built in less than a year in a partnership between QBuild and Hutchinson Builders. Minister for Housing Sam O'Connor said it was a record pipeline but understood many more were needed. "We need to make sure that it gets even bigger and our clear aim as a government is to get our social and community housing delivery up to over 2,000 a year," he said. "We've said we will deliver by the end of this term. That is ambitious. It is quadrupling the amount that the former government managed to deliver on average per year during their 10 years in office. "We're under no illusions about how big the scale of the challenges [are] to ramp up to that level, but we're confident we can get there." Ms Kelly meanwhile said she remained hopeful the department would eventually find her a two-bedroom home in Maryborough or Bundaberg, closer to family and friends. "It's on my paperwork that I need a two-bedroom, so at least I've got my granddaughters or a friend to come, you know, two or three nights a week," she said. "It's like a waiting game … so I'll be waiting."
