This article is from the Australian Property Journal archive
UP to 1,000 additional Queensland homeowners are now eligible for funding to raise their homes and be protected from a future flood event.
Expansions to the assessment criteria under the government’s $741 million Resilient Homes Fund (RHF) for victims of the 2021-22 floods means more homeowners can apply for additional house-raising and retrofitting measures.
The change comes as the Queensland Building and Construction Commission (QBCC) launches a public register of contractors suitably qualified to carry out work under the RHF. More than 530 builders are listed on the RHF Contractor Register.
“We know many in the community are still dealing with the lasting impacts of these devastating floods, which is why we are doing more for those impacted households,” said Minister for Public Works and Procurement, Mick de Brenni.
“We’ve listened to Queenslanders and have broadened the criteria, meaning more Queenslanders can live in their homes and communities after flood waters recede without the stress of damaged or unsafe homes.”
He said it would also mean fewer insurance claims and lower premiums following extreme flooding in the future. The floods that hit south east Queensland and NSW last year cost are considered the most expensive natural disaster in Australia history, with an insurance bill of as much as $5.65 billion
Flood-affected Deagon resident, Joshua Lind, said the Queensland government’s announcement was going to “make a lot of people very happy”.
“We lost everything in the floods – our cars, our contents, my work tools – absolutely everything.
“This announcement means a lot, because we didn’t want the risk of losing everything again, and this helps with the large financial burden we thought we’d have to face from raising our home.”
Laura Galeano, a Paddington resident who was also impacted by floods, said, “The option would have been to move, but we love where we live and we don’t want to move, and with this $100,000, we know we have more flexibility.”
Adam Seager, operations manager at Raise My Home said the changed would provide a pipeline of work for licensed contractors like himself.
