Brisbane's Sustainable Growth Strategy
Brisbane is a safe, vibrant, green and prosperous city valued for its friendly character and subtropical lifestyle. Our popularity and growth have created housing pressures and, as the region continues to grow, housing choice will need to reflect our changing communities.
As we plan for future growth, Brisbane City Council has prepared Brisbane's Sustainable Growth Strategy, our housing and homelessness strategy, outlining some of the important work we are undertaking – our priorities, initiatives and achievements – to facilitate housing supply and diversity within our region. The strategy also outlines our initiatives to address the challenges of population growth and changing housing needs.
The strategy aims to address the four key priorities identified for Brisbane.
- Housing supply for our growing and evolving city.
- Housing diversity, affordability and choice.
- Housing is in the right locations.
- Housing is sustainable and well designed to suit our subtropical lifestyle.
Council is focused on both current and future needs, so the region’s growth is sustainable, managed and planned, and residents have opportunities to live in a home and location that is right for them.
Download the strategy:
Brisbane's Housing Supply Action Plan
As Brisbane continues to experience significant growth, Council is focused on ensuring residents have opportunities to live in a home and location that is right for them while still enjoying our enviable subtropical lifestyle.
Planning for well-designed housing with appropriate access to transport and facilities is critical to our city remaining an affordable and sustainable place to live. Urgent action is needed to help deliver more housing.
Brisbane's Housing Supply Action Plan will support the implementation of Brisbane's Sustainable Growth Strategy through targeted actions to address short-to-medium-term housing supply.
These actions formed part of Council's Housing Supply Statement in response to the draft ShapingSEQ 2023 Update. The Queensland Government released the final South East Queensland Regional Plan 2023 (ShapingSEQ 2023) in December 2023.
Actions will help lower construction costs through:
- reduced infrastructure charges
- new planning strategies
- fast-tracked assessment
- advocacy for Queensland and Australian planning reforms and support for more housing.
Download Brisbane's Housing Supply Action Plan (PDF - 3Mb).
Brisbane’s Housing Supply Action Plan includes a series of actions to make it easier for industry to build more housing sooner, and address housing supply challenges.
Progress on these updates is outlined below.
Guiding sustainable growth
Creating new homes and jobs through precincts
| Action | Status |
|---|---|
| Kurilpa Temporary Local Planning Instrument adopted, precinct plan and tailored amendment in development – planned for adoption by early 2025. | In progress |
| City Centre Master Plan update – planned for release by end of 2024. | In progress |
| Completed consultation for the Nathan, Salisbury, Moorooka Neighbourhood Plan – planned for adoption by end of 2024. | In progress |
| Stones Corner Suburban Renewal Precinct tailored City Plan amendment referred for State interest review and approval for community consultation. | In progress |
| Assessing proponent-led precinct plans at Yeronga and Runcorn. | In progress |
| Engaged with Economic Development Queensland on the development of the Woolloongabba PDA Development Plan. | Delivered |
Facilitating well-designed homes
| Action | Status |
|---|---|
| Introduced the Brisbane Green Buildings Incentive Policy. | Delivered |
| Brisbane Green Factor tool is providing urban development practitioners with a clear methodology to assess the quality of any proposed green infrastructure in new developments, to optimise landscape designs and maximise the ecosystem services they provide. | Delivered |
| Proposed citywide amendment – planning scheme policy – Amendment package Q embeds the guidelines in New World City Design Guide - Buildings that Breathe into Brisbane City Plan 2014, completed public notification late 2023 and planned for adoption mid-2024. | In progress |
Increasing long-term housing availability
| Action | Status |
|---|---|
| Introduced the Brisbane Build to Rent Incentive Policy in mid-2023. | Delivered |
| Short-Stay Accommodation Taskforce finalised its review, with report and recommendations published. | Delivered |
New actions to unlock housing supply
Incentivising housing supply
| Action | Status |
|---|---|
| Introduced the Brisbane Housing Supply Incentive Policy in October 2023. | Delivered |
| Published updates to the Brisbane Infrastructure Charges Resolution to provide a permanent and ongoing 100% charges reduction for community housing providers citywide. | Delivered |
Fast tracking assessment
| Action | Status |
|---|---|
| Established a dedicated team within Council’s Development Services to streamline the assessment of applications eligible under the Brisbane Housing Supply Incentive Policy and Brisbane Build to Rent Incentive Policy. This team is also responsible for providing streamlined assessment for code assessable multiple dwelling applications. | Delivered |
Growing up, not out
| Action | Status |
|---|---|
| Undertaking a review of Brisbane’s centres network which identified opportunities for increased housing supply within and around our centres and where they are located close to highly serviced public transport stations and routes. | In progress |
Reducing the cost to build new housing
| Action | Status |
|---|---|
| Introduced the Inner City Affordability Initiative City Plan amendment to extend the boundary of the City Core and City Frame parking areas. This amendment has been referred for State interest review and approval for community consultation. | In progress |
| Commenced a review of car parking to explore options to lower car parking requirements for attached dwellings in key locations. | In progress |
Working with other levels of government
Social and affordable housing investment
| Action | Status |
|---|---|
| Advocated to the Queensland Government for greater investment in social and affordable housing as part of Council’s response to the draft ShapingSEQ 2023 update and Council’s Housing Supply Statement in October 2023. | Delivered |
| Advocated to the Queensland Government for changes to legislation to help local government to secure affordable housing outcomes in the short and long term in accordance with its requirements under ShapingSEQ 2023. | Delivered |
| Advocated for the activation of the Centre for National Resilience at Pinkenba to be used for temporary or emergency accommodation, as part of Council’s response to the draft ShapingSEQ 2023 update and Council’s Housing Supply Statement in October 2023. | Delivered |
Construction industry support
| Action | Status |
|---|---|
| Advocated the Queensland Government for the introduction of financial incentives to improve construction feasibility including stamp duty and land tax concessions, as part of Council’s response to the draft ShapingSEQ 2023 update and Council’s Housing Supply Statement in October 2023. | Delivered |
| Advocated the Queensland Government to address the chronic skills shortage including the prioritisation of government-funded apprenticeships, as part of Council’s response to the draft ShapingSEQ 2023 update and Council’s Housing Supply Statement in October 2023. | Delivered |
State delivered infrastructure
| Action | Status |
|---|---|
| Advocated to the Queensland Government for delivery of a response infrastructure charges system and finalisation of the capped charges review as part of Council’s response to the draft ShapingSEQ 2023 update and Council’s Housing Supply Statement in October 2023. | Delivered |
| Worked with the Local Government Association of Queensland (LGAQ) on a joint advocacy campaign of the Queensland Government requesting additional funding for local government trunk infrastructure (existing and future). | Delivered |
| Provided feedback to the Queensland Government on the proposed Economic Development and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2024 about Council funding infrastructure to service demand arising from development within Priority Development Areas (under the control of Economic Development Queensland). | Delivered |
| Advocated for changes to the proposed Economic Development and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2024 to ensure that Economic Development Queensland funds through alternate revenue options, or to undertake a review of the current charging framework as set out under the Planning Act 2017. | Delivered |
| Advocated to the Queensland Government for additional infrastructure to support the significant housing and employment targets released by the Queensland Government through ShapingSEQ 2023. | Delivered |
| As part of Council’s submission on Housing Availability and Affordability (Planning and Other Legislation) Bill 2023, Council highlighted potential for reduction of Council’s infrastructure charges revenue through conditions of trunk and non-trunk infrastructure for state facilitated applications. | Delivered |
Queensland Government planning reform
| Action | Status |
|---|---|
| Advocated to the Queensland Government for a streamlined planning scheme amendment process to reduce timeframes for amendment assessment, increasing housing supply and diversity sooner. | Delivered |
| Advocated for clear definitions within the Queensland Government’s Planning Regulation for affordable housing and build to rent development to ensure that Council and industry are well placed to respond to, or mitigate, issues relating to these development types through the development application process. | Delivered |
| Advocated for legislative support to secure affordable housing outcomes in the long term. | Delivered |
| As part of Council’s submission on Housing Availability and Affordability (Planning and Other Legislation) Bill 2023, Council provided feedback on process and decision-making framework under proposed Ministerial powers to direct local governments. | Delivered |
Brisbane Housing Supply Incentive Policy
An initiative of Brisbane’s Housing Supply Action Plan, Council is helping to get more homes built sooner by reducing the cost of constructing our city’s most needed developments. The Brisbane Housing Supply Incentive Policy offers reduced infrastructure charges and specialist fast-tracked assessment for eligible developments.
Until 1 April 2026, eligible developments in the High density residential, Principal centre, Major centre or Mixed use (Inner city) zones can apply for infrastructure charge reductions, including:
- 75% reduction for developments approved between 1 January 2022 and 31 August 2023
- 50% reduction for developments approved between 1 September 2023 and 30 June 2025
- 100% reduction for community housing providers as an ongoing and permanent initiative.
Learn more about the Brisbane Housing Supply Incentive Policy.
Housing choices for people at every stage of life
Our lifestyle and affordability attracted many new residents from other states during the coronavirus pandemic, with strong interstate migration expected to continue. Brisbane is projected to grow from a population of approximately 1.26 million people in 2021 to a city of 1.55 million by 2041. This equates to around 275 new residents calling Brisbane home each week.
Council is on track to facilitate almost 200,000 new homes to accommodate our population growth. However, with limited greenfield land available we must look for opportunities in established but underutilised areas, while ensuring:
- we have the right housing types and mix required to meet Brisbane’s current and future population needs
- housing is affordable
- our enviable lifestyle is protected and enhanced.
Council’s strategy facilitates housing supply by addressing competing demands and challenges, including:
- keeping Brisbane affordable for residents
- remaining an attractive city to invest and conduct business
- managing sustained population growth and changing communities
- planning for housing in locations that maximises city-shaping infrastructure
- delivering infrastructure to meet future population growth
- responding to housing needs during and after major events such as pandemics or floods
- establishing guidelines for well-designed liveable dwellings
- ensuring opportunities to develop housing types that support a range of life stages and abilities.
Responding to changing needs
Council will update this strategy, if necessary, once the latest population and supply data becomes available through the Queensland Government’s updated South East Queensland Regional Plan (ShapingSEQ) and Land Supply and Development Monitoring Report.
Council will continue to consult communities on proposals to ensure our growth is planned and maintains our valued lifestyles, while providing housing choices and access for people at every stage of life.
Register for updates
To receive Council’s planning and building updates, including information on housing strategies and opportunities to have your say, you can:
More information
For more information:
- email the project team
- phone Council on 07 3403 8888
- write to:
Strategic Planning (Brisbane's Sustainable Growth Strategy)
Brisbane City Council
GPO Box 1434
Brisbane Qld 4001.