Sunshine Coast and Moreton Bay locals will benefit from the creation of a new community housing organisation with the launch of Coast2Bay Housing Group Limited at Bokarina today.
Community Services and Housing Minister Karen Struthers said Coast2Bay was formed through the amalgamation of Sunshine Coast Regional Housing Council Inc (SCHRC) and Break Through Community Housing Service Inc.
“Providing safe, affordable and appropriate accommodation is central to the Queensland Government’s vision of creating a more responsive social housing system,” Ms Struthers said.
“This amalgamation will help improve the availability of social housing in the Sunshine Coast and Moreton Bay regions.
“Coast2Bay has also established a skilled board to oversee its future operations into various types of affordable housing and has positioned itself to support the expansion of social housing for the region into the future.
“I am confident that Coast2Bay will be able to achieve stronger housing outcomes for clients and an improved response to local housing need.
“That is why the Queensland Government was delighted to provide $61,422 in funding to support the merger of SCRHC and Break Through, and a further $13,172 in funding to assist SCRHC with other essential amalgamation activities.
“This funding is in addition to close to $1.8 million in Queensland Government funding that Coast2Bay received to provide much-needed housing services in the Sunshine Coast and Moreton Bay region for 2011-12.”
Ms Struthers said the funding formed part of the Queensland Government’s commitment to provide a wide range of housing support services for vulnerable people across the State.
“I recently announced 283 new affordable housing allocations for the Sunshine Coast Regional Council area through the National Rental Affordability Scheme (NRAS).
“We are doing all we can to turn around the lives of homeless Queensl anders by supporting them to find a way out of crisis.
“That is why we announced an investment of more than $1 billion in the State Budget to help put more Queenslanders into homes and give people experiencing homelessness a chance to get their lives back on track.
“As part of the government’s Toward Q2 strategy to build a fairer community, we will continue to work in partnership with community agencies helping homeless people across the State.”
