Housing for people, not profit
While ordinary Queenslanders are paying for record high rents and mortgages, the wealthiest investors and banks are making huge profits. The Greens will stop unlimited rent increases, give tenants a right to a lease renewal, and create a public bank with cheaper mortgage rates.
Secure, affordable homes for renters
Rents are up 43% since 2021, and Labor and the LNP have abandoned the 1.7 million Queenslanders who rent. They have refused to ban unlimited rent increases, which are keeping home ownership out of reach for many while pushing thousands into financial stress and homelessness.
The Greens will:
- Freeze rents for two years to give wages a chance to catch up
- Create a long-term cap on rent increases after the freeze finishes, at 1% per year
- Give renters a guaranteed right to a lease renewal, unless the landlord has a good reason not to, and increase notice periods to 6 months if so
- Strengthen minimum rental standards, including insulation, ventilation and ceiling fans
- Allow renters to make minor changes to their home.
You can read our full plan for renters here.
Cheaper mortgages with a public bank
Right now over $400 from the average monthly mortgage repayment is pure profit for the Big Four banks, who’ve made $30 billion in profit every year as the market exploded. We used to have publicly owned banks, like the Commonwealth Bank and Qld SGIO, but the major parties sold them off in the 1990s.
The Greens will bring back a State Government owned public bank, to offer:
- Owner-occupiers interest rates 1.5% below the Big Four banks, saving the average first home buyer $514 every month and helping drive down rates among the Big Four
- Savings & transaction accounts, credit cards & EFTPOS with no fees for households or small businesses.
You can read our full plan for a Queensland Public Bank here.
More public housing
You can also read about our plan to deliver more public housing by creating a publicly owned property investor and bolstering Queensland’s public construction company here.