Vacant, underused land to make way for housing in next phase of land activation

Vacant and underused land to make way for housing in next phase of Queensland land activation program Mon 15 Jun 2026 at 1:35pm In short: The Queensland government has announced the next stage of its land activation program intended to sell off under-utilised state-owned land for development. Three developers will take ownership of land in the north Brisbane suburb of Banyo to build housing and an aged care facility, delivering 450 new homes. What's next? Construction of the Banyo development is expected to begin early next year. The Queensland government has announced the next phase of its program to sell vacant and underused state-owned land to the private sector to deliver housing. Deputy Premier Jarrod Bleijie launched the land activation program from a vacant six-hectare site in Brisbane's north in February. On Monday morning, Mr Bleijie announced three developers would take ownership of the land, in partnership with Economic Development Queensland, to create townhouses, affordable housing, and an aged care facility. "When I announced this site just shy of four months ago, we were expecting 400 homes," he said. "What we've been able to achieve with the announcement today is 450 new homes". Under the program, AR Development Group will develop a 207-unit townhouse project. It will also see Rockpool Holdings create a new 180-bed residential aged care facility and Mission Australia Housing will create a 64-unit affordable housing development. The former Energy Queensland site received 157 expressions of interest. Mr Bleijie said early work would start within months, with construction set to begin early next year. "People often say, 'what's the solution to the housing crisis?' and I say 'supply, supply, supply, fast, fast, fast,'" he said. "We can't get much quicker than this." Since the program launched in February, more than 21 hectares of land have been released to market, and another 3,000 hectares of potential sites have been identified and are under assessment. Under the program, the government implemented a "use it or house it" policy, forcing public departments that do not need or are under-utilising state land to release it for private development. It does not include any mandates for social housing. Mr Bleijie said it was possible to achieve affordable housing without the forced mandates. "We've done it without," he said. Property Council of Australia's Queensland's executive director, Jess Caire, said Monday's announcement showed great outcomes could be delivered when the private sector and government partnered. "What's also really exciting about this development is the housing diversity and typology that will be delivered on this well-located site, close to public transport, close to amenities and close to jobs," she said. "It's exactly the type of development that is going to drive inroads into our housing availability and affordability issue". 'We've had zip' Mr Bleijie had initially announced 400 new homes would be built at the site. Banyo resident Chris Vale said he had had concerns after hearing on Monday that there could be more than 450 new homes. "Where does it stop?" he said. "Given that in this day and age every house has a minimum of two cars. Maybe you've got your kids staying at home … you'll have four cars per house. "There won't be enough parking," Mr Vale said. He said the area also had "very bad infrastructure" for sewerage and stormwater. "[Mr Bleijie] talked about public consultation in February and we've had zip," he said. "He blazes in, blazes out," he said. Mr Bleijie said the consultation process will now be undertaken "obviously with the residents around the area". He said the three developers would be submitting their development applications to Economic Development Queensland, which would take into account roads, traffic, transport, sewerage, flooding, and stormwater. "But this site is ready to go. It is ready to go. And this is the first one of many," Mr Bleijie said.