{"id":596830,"date":"2026-04-10T00:56:21","date_gmt":"2026-04-10T00:56:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/596830\/"},"modified":"2026-04-10T00:56:21","modified_gmt":"2026-04-10T00:56:21","slug":"suburban-neighbourhood-developments-in-south-east-queensland-could-face-delays-report-warns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/596830\/","title":{"rendered":"Suburban neighbourhood developments in south-east Queensland could face delays, report warns"},"content":{"rendered":"

Plans to develop apartment blocks up to 15-storeys high in Brisbane’s middle ring of suburbia could face an uphill battle as construction costs soar, according to new data.<\/p>\n

The draft plans made public by the City of Moreton Bay in March outline the proposed rezoning of two precincts in the north Brisbane suburbs of Ferny Hills and Arana Hills.<\/p>\n

The rezoning would allow for the construction of higher density residential buildings up to 15-storeys high in suburban streets currently lined with single-storey, detached homes.<\/p>\n

The plans are a response to a 2023 report which urged south-east Queensland councils to prepare for hundreds of thousands of new residents by 2046.<\/p>\n

\"Photos<\/p>\n

The cost of building apartments in Brisbane is rapidly rising, according to urban consultancy firm Urbis. (ABC News: Luke Bowden)<\/p>\n

However, the increasing cost to build new apartments could soon put their delivery at risk, according to a recent report<\/a> from urban consultancy firm Urbis.<\/p>\n

The report warns that the cost of construction, combined with an expected drain of subcontractors and tradesmen from the residential sector to Olympics projects is putting the pipeline of future apartment buildings at risk.<\/p>\n

Beyond 2027, about 35 per cent of apartment supply is considered to be at moderate to high risk of delay, according to the report.<\/p>\n

Urbis partner Paul Riga said the viability of a project would depend on the scale and level of amenity.<\/p>\n

“When you’re competing with projects which have maybe higher headway for revenue in more inner-city locations \u2026 there will be challenges,” he said.<\/p>\n

“But that’s not to say that projects won’t be viable.<\/p>\n

“When we are looking at supply coming through and at least completing over the next three to five years \u2026 there is a level of uncertainty.”<\/p>\n

Mr Riga said apartment delivery numbers were expected to remain “relatively consistent” over the next three to five years.<\/p>\n

“Which is well under the targets that are needed over that period,” he said.<\/p>\n

New data from Cotality, meanwhile, shows Queensland is leading the country in population increase with over 25 per cent of national growth occurring in the sunshine state between early 2020 and the end of 2025.<\/p>\n

That population growth is outpacing construction,\u00a0with less than 20 per cent of new home constructions being completed in Queensland over the same period.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Zones marked in dark purple are slated for developments up to 40 metres or 12 storeys high. (Supplied)<\/p>\n

The draft plans have concerned some local residents, who have formed the community group Ferny Hills Futures.<\/p>\n

In a statement the group said members were not opposed to the need to increase housing density, but outlined concerns about “a lack of information in the proposals.”<\/p>\n

“A proposal of this scale should include much more information about master planning and design, including necessary infrastructure upgrades and the mapping of natural hazards.<\/p>\n

This is why there is such a mixed response from the community \u2014 people are confused about what this all means.”<\/p>\n

Some local residents, however, have welcomed the proposed changes.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

An artist’s impression of a future mixed-use development in Ferny Hills. (Supplied)<\/p>\n

Ferny Hills resident Leo Karidimitris said his first reaction to the plan was that it was “about time.”<\/p>\n

“Urban development needs to constantly change to meet with demands for the city,” he said.<\/p>\n

“We can’t just expand transport corridors infinitely. We need to densify where it makes sense.”<\/p>\n

Mr Karidimitris said he backed the plan, as long as it was integrated with public transport.<\/p>\n

Brisbane goes sky high in a bid to meet housing demand<\/a><\/p>\n

Brisbane City Council is adopting a “sky high” strategy to deal with a projected surge in population over the next 15 years.<\/p>\n

“Sure, there will be more cars, but you can’t grow a city without congestion increasing in some way,” he said.<\/p>\n

Hannah Steele, who owns a home in an area slated for development, said the plan made “so much sense”.<\/p>\n

“There’s close public transport nearby, it’s the end of the train line. There’s a big development going up right on that train line that makes grocery shopping and childcare centres within walking distance,” she said.<\/p>\n

Ms Steele said she was “excited” to see a focus on growing the population around existing infrastructure.<\/p>\n

“I think some people’s expectations of the way that their lives should remain are probably not realistic anymore,” she said.Grow up or grow out<\/p>\n

Sonia Roitman, an associate professor in urban planning at the University of Queensland, said there were only two ways a city could grow \u2014 up or out.<\/p>\n

“Land is not an infinite resource. If there is a plan for the city to continue to expand, one of the only ways to do it is to grow vertically,” she said.<\/p>\n

“If you think about the middle suburbs, the question is how much they can grow vertically \u2014 and I think that’s the main discussion,” Ms Roitman said.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Urban planning associate professor Sonia Roitman says growing cities like Brisbane can expand up or out. (Supplied)<\/p>\n

Ms Roitman said vertical growth needed to be met with good transport resources.<\/p>\n

“You want to avoid the use of private transport, you want to avoid overcrowding, you want to avoid traffic jams,” she said.<\/p>\n

That could be challenging in a society that still relies heavily on private transport, she said.<\/p>\n

In a statement, City of Moreton Bay councillor Matt Constance said the council was at the “very early stages” of planning and noted that a community consultation period had been extended until April 24.<\/p>\n

Mr Constance said adequate infrastructure was a “key challenge” and a “priority focus” for the council.<\/p>\n

He said a more detailed infrastructure response \u2014 in consultation with the state government and utility providers \u2014 would be developed once the final version of the report had been completed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Plans to develop apartment blocks up to 15-storeys high in Brisbane’s middle ring of suburbia could face an…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":596831,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[291315,283579,64,63,651,99,7109,291314,139754,251625,260200,94,701,116361,58484,291313],"class_list":{"0":"post-596830","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-business","8":"tag-12-storey","9":"tag-arana-hills","10":"tag-au","11":"tag-australia","12":"tag-brisbane","13":"tag-business","14":"tag-density","15":"tag-everton-park","16":"tag-ferny-hills","17":"tag-high-rise","18":"tag-moreton-bay-council","19":"tag-qld","20":"tag-queensland","21":"tag-suburbia","22":"tag-urban-living","23":"tag-urban-renewal-precincts"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/596830","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=596830"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/596830\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/596831"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=596830"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=596830"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=596830"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}