More than 100 homes settled for voluntary buy-back

Queensland’s Voluntary Home Buy-Back Program has hit a new milestone with more than 100 flood-impacted home settlements having now occurred.

The program, which is part of the $741 million Resilient Homes Fund, allows Queenslanders who were severely impacted by the devastating 2021-22 flooding events to move out of the flood zone and out of harm’s way.

It is a jointly funded initiative delivered through Commonwealth-state Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements (DRFA).

As of 13 March 2023, 422 offers have been presented to homeowners, 274 offers have been accepted and 106 have been finalised.

All homes purchased under the program are demolished and the land re-zoned to an appropriate, non-occupied use such as green space.

The demolition of six properties bought under the program has been completed in Goodna.

The South East Queensland floods caused damage to almost 7,000 homes and more than 1,000 commercial properties.

More than 6,000 homeowners have now registered for the Resilient Homes Fund, which remains open for Queensland homeowners affected by the floods of 2021-22.

Queenslanders can register to be considered for three program options: resilient retrofit, home-raising or voluntary home buy-back.

This is the first household resilience program of its kind to be offered in Australia and will change the region’s resilience to flooding.

The Resilient Homes Fund is one pathway to flood resilience, with all levels of government collaborating on home-raising and renovations, betterment projects, mitigation funding and economy recovery programs in disaster-prone regions across Queensland.

For more information on the program visit www.qld.gov.au/resilienthomes