Housing diversity in Queensland
Key Finding
Detached dwellings dominate Queensland’s housing stock, however building approvals for high-rise (attached 4+ storeys) dwellings accounted for 19% of all approvals from 1 July 2016 to 31 December 2019, compared to 5% of dwelling stock in 2016.
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Queensland or regional plan:
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- List
- Cape York Regional Plan
- Central Queensland Regional Plan
- Central West Regional Plan
- Darling Downs Regional Plan
- Far North Regional Plan
- Gulf Regional Development Plan
- Mackay, Isaac and Whitsunday Regional Plan
- North Queensland Regional Plan
- North West Regional Plan
- South East Queensland Regional Plan (ShapingSEQ)
- South West Regional Plan
- Wide Bay–Burnett Regional Plan
Regional planning areas (select locations to filter information)
Queensland
Queensland had 1,930,965 dwellings in 2016, with building approvals from 2016 to 2019 adding a further 134,184 dwellings.
In 2016, detached dwellings dominated Queensland’s existing housing stock which overall comprised:
- 1,463,630 (76%) detached dwellings
- 379,651 (20%) attached dwellings (1–3 storeys)
- 87,684 (around 5%) high-rise dwellings (attached 4+ storeys).
Between 2016 and 2019, building approval was granted for 134,184 dwellings in Queensland with:
- Proportionately fewer detached dwelling approvals (62%) than the 2016 stock
- 19% for high-rise dwellings, compared to the 5% dwelling stock in 2016.
More than 97% of the state’s approved high-rise dwellings (attached 4+ storeys) were in the South East Queensland (SEQ) region (2016–2019).
Building approvals for attached dwellings (1–3 storeys) in SEQ for 2016–2019 accounted for 21% of all dwellings approved (24,563 dwellings) and also comprise the bulk of such approvals in Queensland, with only 997 additional attached dwellings (1–3 storeys) approved for the rest of Queensland over the same period.
New Dwelling Building Approvals are for the period 1 July 2016 to 31 December 2019.
More information:
Darling Downs Regional Plan
The Darling Downs regional planning area had 110,935 dwellings in 2016, where:
- Detached houses dominated existing housing stock (86% or 95,618 dwellings)
- Only 14% of dwelling stock was attached dwellings (1–3 storeys) or 15,202 dwellings
- High-rise dwellings (4+ storeys) represented less than 1% of the housing stock.
Building approval was given for 4,192 new dwellings in 2016–2019 with:
- 3,178 were for detached dwellings
- 989 (24%) of building approvals were for attached dwellings (1–3 storeys)
- 25 approvals were given for high-rise dwellings.
New Dwelling Building Approvals are for the period 1 July 2016 to 31 December 2019.
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Cape York Regional Plan
In 2016, the Cape York region had 8,060 dwellings, with building approvals in 2016–2019 adding a further 402 new dwellings.
Detached dwellings dominated Cape York’s 2016 housing stock. This was further reflected in the 2016–2019 period with:
- 86% (344 dwellings) of approvals being detached dwellings
- 14% (58 dwellings) of approvals being for attached dwellings (1–3 storeys).
New Dwelling Building Approvals are for the period 1 July 2016 to 31 December 2019.
More information:
Gulf Regional Development Plan
The Gulf region’s existing dwelling stock was 2,238 dwellings in 2016. Detached houses dominate the Gulf region’s 2016 housing stock where:
- 89% (1,982 dwellings) were detached dwellings
- 11% (256 dwellings) were attached dwellings (1–3 storeys).
Building approval was granted for 66 new dwellings in 2016–2019 with:
- 58 detached dwellings
- 8 attached dwellings (1–3 storeys).
These numbers are too low for any meaningful interpretation of the split of dwelling types approved.
New Dwelling Building Approvals are for the period 1 July 2016 to 31 December 2019.
More information:
Far North Regional Plan
Far North Queensland regional planning area had 105,638 dwellings in 2016 where:
- Detached houses dominated (77% or 81,025 dwellings)
- 21% of housing stock (22,665 dwellings) was attached dwellings (1–3 storeys)
- High-rise (4+ storeys) made up 2% (1,948 dwellings) of existing housing stock.
In 2016–2019, building approval was given for 3,974 new dwellings where:
- 4 out of 5 new approvals were detached dwellings (3,190)
- Around 5% of new approvals were for attached dwellings (1–3 storeys)
- Around 14% of new approvals were for high-rise dwellings (566).
New Dwelling Building Approvals are for the period 1 July 2016 to 31 December 2019.
More information:
North Queensland Regional Plan
North Queensland region had 96,863 dwellings in 2016 with:
- Detached houses dominating the region’s dwelling stock (82% or 79,158 dwellings)
- 16% (or 15,571 dwellings) were attached dwellings (1–3 storeys)
- High-rise dwellings (attached 4+ storeys) comprising 2% of existing stock (2,134 dwellings).
A further 2,364 dwellings received building approval between 2016 and 2019, where:
- Detached dwellings dominance was consolidated, with 91% (2,149 dwellings) of approved dwellings for detached dwellings
- 6% (147 dwellings) were for attached dwellings (1–3 storeys)
- 3% (68 dwellings) were for high-rise.
New Dwelling Building Approvals are for the period 1 July 2016 to 31 December 2019.
More information:
North West Regional Plan
North West Queensland region had 10,815 dwellings in 2016 and detached dwellings were dominant (77% or 8,322 existing dwellings).
In 2016–2019, a further 43 new dwellings were approved where:
- 74% (32 dwellings) were detached houses.
The total number of new dwelling approvals is too low for any meaningful interpretation of the split of dwelling types in North West Queensland.
New Dwelling Building Approvals are for the period 1 July 2016 to 31 December 2019.
More information:
Mackay, Isaac and Whitsunday Regional Plan
The Mackay, Isaac and Whitsunday region had 73,172 dwellings in 2016 with detached houses dominant (84% or 61,178 dwellings).
Building approval was granted for 1,549 new dwellings in 2016–2019, with:
- 99% for detached dwellings (1,529)
- 20 dwellings approved in the attached dwellings (1–3 storeys) category
- No high-rise (attached 4+ storeys) approved in this period.
New Dwelling Building Approvals are for the period 1 July 2016 to 31 December 2019.
More information:
Central West Regional Plan
There were 5,266 dwellings in the Central West regional planning area in 2016, dominated by detached dwellings (93% or 4,914 dwellings).
Building approval was given for 18 new dwellings in 2016–2019.
The total number of these recent dwelling approvals is too low for any meaningful interpretation of the split of dwelling types in the Central West.
New Dwelling Building Approvals are for the period 1 July 2016 to 31 December 2019.
More information:
Central Queensland Regional Plan
In 2016, there were 95,963 dwellings in the Central Queensland region with:
- Most existing dwellings being detached and accounting for 87% of existing dwelling stock (83,377 dwellings)
- Attached dwellings (1–3 storeys) making up 12% of existing housing (11,785 dwellings)
- 1% of existing stock (801 dwellings) being high-rise dwellings (attached 4+ storeys).
Building approval was given for 1,772 new dwellings in 2016–2019 where:
- 1,542 (87%) were for detached dwellings
- 168 (around 9%) were for attached dwellings (1–3 stories), compared to 12% of 2016 stock
- 62 (around 3%) were for high-rise dwellings (attached 4+ storeys), compared to the 1% of 2016 stock.
New Dwelling Building Approvals are for the period 1 July 2016 to 31 December 2019.
More information:
South West Regional Plan
South West Queensland region had 3,406 dwellings in 2016 with:
- Detached houses making up 94% (3,210) of dwellings
- Around 6% (196 dwellings) being attached dwellings (1–3 storeys).
Building approvals were granted for 19 new dwellings in 2016–2019.
The total number of recent dwelling approvals is too low for any meaningful interpretation of the split of dwelling types in South West Queensland.
New Dwelling Building Approvals are for the period 1 July 2016 to 31 December 2019.
More information:
Wide Bay–Burnett Regional Plan
Wide Bay Burnett region had 128,917 dwellings in 2016 with a further 5,374 new dwellings approved in 2016–2019.
In 2016, Wide Bay Burnett region’s dwelling stock comprised:
- Mostly detached houses (89% or 114,653 dwellings)
- Around 11% (13,659 dwellings) attached dwellings (1–3 storeys)
- Less than 1% (605 dwellings) were high-rise (4+ storeys).
Building approvals for 2016–2019 indicate that:
- 94% (5,061 dwellings) of new approved dwellings were detached dwellings
- 6% (313 dwellings) of approvals were for attached dwellings (1–3 storeys).
New Dwelling Building Approvals are for the period 1 July 2016 to 31 December 2019.
More information:
South East Queensland Regional Plan (ShapingSEQ)
The South East Queensland (SEQ) region had 1,344,819 dwellings in 2016 where:
- Detached dwellings comprised 72% (967,343 dwellings) of existing dwellings
- 22% (295,963 dwellings) were attached dwellings (1–3 storeys)
- 6% (81,513 dwellings) were high-rise (4+ storeys).
Building approvals were given for 117,573 new dwellings in 2016–2019 with:
- 58% (68,168 dwellings) of new approvals for detached dwellings
- 21% (24,563 dwellings) for attached dwelling (1–3 stories)
- A higher proportion of high-rise dwellings (attached 4+ storeys) approved (21% of approved dwellings or 24,842 dwellings) compared to the 6% of 2016 stock
- Overall, 42% (49,405 dwellings) of all new approvals in SEQ were for attached dwellings (both 1–3 storeys and 4+ storeys).
Increases in approvals for high-rise dwellings (attached 4+ storeys) enables a more efficient use of land and infrastructure over time through ongoing consolidation of the region’s settlement pattern. However, the sustainability of any higher rates of approvals is dependent on continued demand for this dwelling type.
New Dwelling Building Approvals are for the period 1 July 2016 to 31 December 2019.
More information:
Relevant Sustainable Development Goals’ targets
Download data from Queensland Government data
Metadata
Dwelling counts by Local Government Area and Statistical Area Level 2, by dwelling type and dwelling structure, Queensland, 2016 Census were used to ascertain existing dwelling stock at the 2016 Census, sourced from Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS.Stat), extracted March 2020.
New Dwelling Building Approvals (1 July 2016 to 31 December 2019) data sourced from Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS.Stat), 8731.0 – Building Approvals, Local Government Area and Statistical Area Level 2, Queensland, extracted March 2020.