Over 100 flood-impacted home settlements have now been finalised under the $741 million Resilient Homes Fund, from the Albanese and Palaszczuk Governments.
The program allows home-owners who were affected by the floods to sell their home for pre-flood value and move to safer ground.
To date, 407 offers have been presented to homeowners, 260 offers have been accepted and 103 have been finalised.
The program – a jointly funded initiative delivered through Commonwealth-State Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements (DRFA) – was established in May 2022 following the catastrophic 2021-22 rainfall and flooding events.
The South East Queensland floods caused damage to almost 7000 homes and was one of the state’s most devastating disasters.
Through the Resilient Homes Fund, Queenslanders whose homes were damaged by flooding in 2021-22 can register to be considered for three program options: Resilient Retrofit, Home Raising or Voluntary Home Buy-Back.
Quotes attributable to the Federal Minister for Emergency Management Murray Watt:
“This program gives people a tangible way out of high-risk flood zones and allows them to move on with their lives.
“I’m very pleased with the progress of the Resilient Homes Fund, and will continue to work hard to ensure more people are protected.
This is just one pathway to resilience, with both the Albanese and Palaszczuk Government collaborating on home-raising and renovations, betterment projects, mitigation funding and economy recovery programs in disaster prone regions across Queensland.
The Albanese Government is committed to making sure communities impacted by natural disasters are better prepared, so they can respond and recover quicker.”
Quotes attributable to the Deputy Premier and Minister responsible for the Queensland Reconstruction Authority Steven Miles:
“I’m pleased to announce that 103 sale contracts under the Voluntary Home Buy-Back program have now settled, allowing the impacted residents to move on with their lives without the risk of future flooding.
“This is very welcome news for the homeowners and families who were affected by the devastating floods of 2022.”
“260 offers have been accepted for voluntary home buy-back out of the 407 offers which have been presented to homeowners.”
“A total of 479 valuation inspections have been undertaken so we expect the number of offers accepted for buy-back to grow steadily over the coming weeks.”
“We will continue to prioritise those most severely impacted by the flooding of 2021-22, as well as vulnerable applicants who are at greatest risk of future flooding.”
“All homes purchased under the program are demolished and the land re-zoned to an appropriate, non-occupied use such as green space.”
“Heavy machinery and specialist crews have now begun demolishing homes in Goodna, with demolition now complete on six properties.”
“This is the first household resilience program of its kind to be offered in Australia and will change the region’s resilience to flooding.”
