Buyback scheme to help over 130 Qld home owners ‘move on with their lives’

The buyback initiative was launched in the wake of the flood events in February and March 2022, which claimed dozens of lives in the state’s South-East, left thousands of Queensland properties inundated, and rendered hundreds uninhabitable. 

The resilience program — delivered through Commonwealth-State Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements (DRFA) — is the largest of its kind to ever be delivered in Australia’s history and offers three options to flood-affected home owners: retrofitting, house raising, or voluntary home buyback.

Under the Voluntary Home Buy-Back Program, which is overseen by Queensland Reconstruction Authority, eligible home owners are offered two valuations — one pre-flood and one post-flood — and can accept the highest of the two valuations to ensure they receive a fair price for their home.

Once a property is bought back, the relevant local council manages the removal of the home and future use of the land.

A total of $350 million has been allocated for the purchase of flood-impacted homes, which is expected to secure the purchase of approximately 500 properties from their respective home owners.

Out of 180 offers made pursuant to the program, the federal government reported that 131 Queensland home owners across Brisbane, Ipswich, Logan, Sunshine Coast, Fraser Coast, Gympie, Moreton Bay and Lockyer Valley had accepted the buyback terms, which were made under the $741 million joint Resilient Homes Fund by state and federal governments.

Acting Premier, Steven Miles, said the acceptance of over 130 voluntary home buybacks was “a great outcome” for Queensland home owners.

“Queenslanders are no strangers to natural disasters. While we can’t stop natural disasters from coming, we can ensure we’re more prepared when they do. This is a significant milestone and very welcome news for the home owners who were impacted by devastating floods last year,” Mr Miles said. 

With the one-year mark of the devastating floods approaching, Mr Miles said the sale of the flood-affected properties would “hopefully signal a brighter 2023 for home owners and their families”. 

Federal Minister for Emergency Management, Murray Watt, said the state and federal governments were working together to boost Queensland’s resilience.

“For those whose homes were the most severely damaged in last year’s flood event and are at greatest risk of future flooding, the Voluntary Home Buy-Back Program is allowing them to move on with their lives, out of the flood zone,” Mr Watt said.

Aside from the buyback scheme, Mr Watt reported that many home owners have also expressed their interest in the house raising and retrofitting components of the Resilient Homes Fund, which is managed by Queensland’s Department of Energy and Public Works. 

More than 5,550 home owners have now registered for the fund, with over 4,100 home assessments already complete.

Valuation inspections are also continuing across 12 local government areas, including Brisbane, Ipswich, Logan, Sunshine Coast, Fraser Coast, Gympie, Moreton Bay, Lockyer Valley, Gold Coast, Noosa, Goondiwindi and Somerset.