Gold Coast mayor questions axing of more than 500 affordable homes

Gold Coast mayor calls out Qld government for axing more than 500 affordable homes Wed 10 Jun 2026 at 3:31pm In short: Gold Coast mayor Tom Tate has called for the state to guarantee more affordable homes after 550 were scrapped from a new development. Deputy Premier Jarrod Bleijie wrote to developers in May requesting the removal of an affordable housing component for two south-east Queensland developments. What's next? Mr Bleijie has defended the decision, saying it will lead to an increase in housing supply. The Gold Coast mayor says the state government will have to guarantee more affordable homes to make up for the 550 lost from a new development. The Labor opposition has called out Deputy Premier Jarrod Bleijie's move to write to developers last month and request the removal of an affordable housing component from applications for two south-east Queensland developments. Mr Bleijie directed developers to remove 550 low-cost homes from a 2500 property development at Robina and Merrimac — which was approved on Tuesday — and 36 homes from a project at Lutwyche in Brisbane. Both developments are part of the state-facilitated development (SFD) program, with approval resting with the state instead of local council. The program previously required at least 15 per cent of homes to be affordable, a component that was dumped in March. In a letter seen by the ABC, Walker Group Holdings wrote to the Department of State Development, Infrastructure and Planning in response to a request to remove the affordable housing component from plans for the Gold Coast site. "Walker supports the requested change and confirms that the application has been amended to remove the minimum affordable housing requirement and reallocate those dwellings as standard market-rate housing," it said. In a government media release announcing the approval of the project, Walker Group Executive of Development Peter Saba said the removal of the mandate would "unlock the project and get housing started sooner". Lamington Markets on Lutwyche Road will comprise of approximately 240 new apartments as well as retail, commercial and community space. James Rennell of Marketplace Developments, which is behind the project, said each government had its own approach to delivering housing. "Our role as developers is not to participate in political debates," he said. "Our role is to deliver." Gold Coast Mayor Tom Tate called on the government to detail where affordable houses would now be built for those who need them most. Cr Tate said compassion should be a number one priority for the "hidden homeless". "I've met teachers who live in cars, marking papers in cars and then going to work," he said. "If you've got affordable housing, whether they can buy it or you bring down the rent, at least we can get them out of cars. "I would say more affordable housing peppered across our city would be much welcome." On its website, Walker states 20 per cent of its Lakeside project at Merrimac and Robina would be affordable homes designed "to support frontline and essential workers in the area". Mr Blejie defended the government's decision to ditch mandates, saying increasing supply would lead to houses becoming more affordable. "When you restrict, and you put mandates on builders and companies, you don't get the results," he said. "We want housing out of the ground. Affordability is going to happen with supply. "We need more supply in the market. We have far too much demand at the moment. We need supply, supply, supply, fast, fast, fast." The government's decision to remove the mandate for affordable homes followed recommendations from the state's productivity commissioner. 'An abuse of powers' Opposition leader Steven Miles said the directive was an abuse of powers by Mr Bleijie. "An abuse of powers that should be used to direct developers to build more affordable homes," he said. "It's effectively the deputy premier directing developers to make their developments more expensive, directing them to remove the affordable components of their projects." Mr Miles said developers were "boasting" about the inclusion of affordable housing and aimed to overshoot the target. "These developers clearly thought that that was commercially viable. They wanted to go ahead with it," he said. Anglicare Australia deputy director Maiy Azize said the Gold Coast was one of the least affordable parts of the country, which was not changing despite new developments. "It is vital to force developers to deliver some homes that are affordable," she said. "The government has to play a role in that process because the private sector simply isn't doing it themselves." Ms Azize said removing mandates for affordable homes was "baffling". "A government that is serious about making homes more affordable to people would be stepping up these kinds of requirements not winding them back," she said.