Community & Business
27 January, 2022
New units to help renters
MAREEBA Community Housing will start construction on six one-bedroom units in the near future to provide even more options for those who find themselves unable to find accommodation.
Manager Patricia Goldfinch said with current rental availability at just 0.6 per cent, many people simple could not find a home.
“It’s been escalating across the Tablelands for the past eight months or so and it’s become very difficult to find a rental,” she said.
Ms Goldfinch said her agency was fortunate to have a philanthropic member of the community who had provided the funds to build the new units.
“We run Affordable Real Estate which is a not-for-profit organisation which provides people with properties that are affordable to rent and any profits that are made are put back into providing resources,” she said.
She said 50-100 additional houses would need to be built on the Tablelands to make any dent in the current rental and housing crisis.
Mareeba Community Housing has submitted an expression of interest to the Queensland Government’s $1 billion Housing Investment Fund in a bid to boost the housing stock in the area.
“We have put in an expression of interest for $1.8 million to enable us to purchase three-bedroom homes but we will also be looking to build 4 one-bedroom units and 2 two-bedroom duplexes if we are successful,” Ms Goldfinch said.
She said anyone who found themselves homeless should contact the organisation.
“We need people to register with us so we can know the true need out there,” she said.
