Housing Legislation Amendment Bill 2022
Plain English Summary
Overview
This bill supports two housing reforms: enabling the Homes for Homes charitable donation scheme to operate in Queensland, and improving financial transparency in retirement villages. Homes for Homes allows property owners to voluntarily donate a portion of their sale price to fund social and affordable housing. The retirement village changes give residents better access to financial information about how their fees and charges are spent.
Who it affects
Retirement village residents gain improved access to financial documents including draft budgets and quantity surveyor reports. Property owners can voluntarily participate in funding social housing through Homes for Homes. Retirement village operators face new standardised financial reporting requirements.
Key changes
- Property owners can register a voluntary charitable donation deed with Homes for Homes, recorded as an Administrative Advice on the land title
- All retirement village residents can now request draft budgets and quantity surveyor reports, not just residents committees
- Retirement village operators must provide standardised annual financial statements following prescribed accounting standards and principles
- Quantity surveyor reports for capital replacement and maintenance reserve funds must be provided to the department annually and placed on the public register
- Operators must pay the capital replacement fund contribution from their own money and disclose related party transactions in financial statements
- A new object is added to the Retirement Villages Act emphasising financial transparency and operator accountability
Bill Story
The journey of this bill through Parliament, including debate and recorded votes.
▸Committee27 Oct 2022View Hansard
Referred to Community Support and Services Committee
The Community Support and Services Committee examined the Housing Legislation Amendment Bill 2022 and recommended it be passed. The bill addresses two areas: enabling the Homes for Homes charitable donation deed model (allowing voluntary property sale donations to fund social housing) and improving financial transparency for retirement villages. The committee made nine recommendations, including clarifying the process for removing donation deed records from land titles, ensuring donated proceeds are used only in Queensland, and protecting retirement village residents from additional costs. The Government accepted or noted all recommendations, agreeing to move amendments during consideration in detail on key issues.
Key findings (5)
- The committee found the Homes for Homes donation deed model would support social housing investment, but flagged the need to clarify how property owners can voluntarily remove the administrative advice from their land title.
- The Queensland Law Society raised concerns about the definition of 'party' to a charitable donation deed and whether the administrative advice should automatically be removed upon property transfer.
- Stakeholders warned that additional financial reporting requirements for retirement villages could result in extra costs being passed onto vulnerable residents on fixed incomes.
- The committee identified a potential conflict of interest risk where the limited number of qualified quantity surveyors in regional Queensland may need to service multiple retirement villages.
- The committee found the bill did not limit any human rights protected by the Human Rights Act 2019 and was satisfied with the explanatory notes and statement of compatibility.
Recommendations (9)
- The committee recommends the Housing Legislation Amendment Bill 2022 be passed.
- The committee recommends that the Minister consider whether the definition of 'party' to a charitable donation needs to be clarified in the bill, and clarify the evidence and process requirements for lodging or removing an administrative advice from the freehold land register.
- The responsible department should ensure that community messaging clearly and simply communicates the voluntary nature of the administrative advice and the process for removing it.
- The Minister should consider whether proposed new section 94I needs to include the words 'in the State' to ensure donated proceeds are used to provide social housing services only in Queensland.
- The responsible department should continue to consult with scheme operators, residents and other key stakeholders when drafting the proposed amending regulation for retirement village financial documents.
- The Minister should consider amending the definition of 'quantity surveyor' to narrow the likelihood of a conflict of interest where the number of available qualified quantity surveyors is limited.
- The Minister should consider compliance measures to ensure any extra costs associated with the proposed financial reporting requirements are not passed onto retirement village residents.
- The responsible department should continue to consult with key stakeholders to ensure all guidelines created under the Retirement Villages Act 1999 are clear and useful for both scheme operators and residents.
- The responsible department should continue to consult with key stakeholders to ensure the proposed transitional arrangements are clear, appropriate and reasonable.
Committee report tabled
▸Second Reading16 Mar 2023View Hansard
▸16 members spoke15 support1 oppose
Supported the bill but criticised it as uncontroversial and lacking substance, arguing the Homes for Homes initiative will be a drop in the ocean and the retirement village amendments may have unintended cost consequences for residents.
“We will not be opposing this bill because it is very uncontroversial. The reason it is not controversial is that there is not a heck of a lot of substance in it.”— 2023-03-28View Hansard
As committee chair, supported the bill and its nine recommendations, highlighting the amendments enabling Homes for Homes and improving retirement village financial transparency.
“I am pleased to speak in favour of the Housing Legislation Amendment Bill 2022.”— 2023-03-28View Hansard
Supported the bill but raised concerns about increased compliance costs being passed on to retirement village residents, particularly pensioners already facing a perfect storm of cost pressures.
“Adding more red tape simply transfers more costs in return for more bureaucracy to older Queenslanders—in fact mostly pensioners.”— 2023-03-28View Hansard
Dismissed the bill as an embarrassment that will do almost nothing to address the housing crisis, calculating Homes for Homes would deliver only 18 homes nationally, and moved an unsuccessful amendment for a rent freeze.
“This is not the action on housing that Queenslanders need—not even close. Besides some long overdue changes to residential villages' financial reporting, all this bill does is allow a charity to put an administrative note on the title of a person's property.”— 2023-03-28View Hansard
Supported the bill, defending the Homes for Homes initiative and retirement village transparency reforms while criticising the Greens' contribution as nauseating and time-wasting.
“This is just another step in meeting our commitment under the Palaszczuk government's Housing and Homelessness Action Plan.”— 2023-03-28View Hansard
Did not oppose the bill but criticised the government for failing to deliver on housing promises, particularly for the Quandamooka people on North Stradbroke Island where no new housing stock has been built in eight years.
“We do not oppose the bill, but this government needs to be judged on its record, not only on what it announces.”— 2023-03-28View Hansard
Strongly supported the bill, defending the government's housing record and criticising the LNP and Greens for blocking housing solutions at every level of government while complaining about the crisis.
“Members opposite cannot get to their feet and complain about the housing crisis if they are blocking the solutions. On every single level and on every single measure, that is their record.”— 2023-03-28View Hansard
Supported the bill but expressed deep concern that it is just platitudes and words, criticising the government for a series of undelivered housing promises including the Housing Investment Fund and prefabricated homes.
“Again, there is nothing wrong with what is being proposed. My concern is that it is just platitudes and words and it is not going to solve the crisis in the affordability and availability of housing in this state.”— 2023-03-28View Hansard
Supported the bill as delivering against the Queensland Housing Strategy, highlighting the Homes for Homes initiative and retirement village financial transparency reforms.
“Housing is a human right.”— 2023-03-28View Hansard
Supported the bill but warned the Homes for Homes model would be a drop in the ocean and that retirement village amendments, while welcome for transparency, may have unintended consequences.
“We know that the Homes for Homes model will be a drop in the ocean of what is needed given the sheer enormity of the housing crisis which, sadly, Queensland finds itself in the grips of.”— 2023-03-28View Hansard
Supported the bill as part of the broader Queensland Housing Strategy, highlighting the retirement village financial transparency reforms and the Homes for Homes initiative.
“This bill makes sure residents in retirement villages can feel more secure in their homes and introduces a new avenue for ordinary Queensland home owners to make a real difference when it comes to tackling housing shortages.”— 2023-03-28View Hansard
Supported the bill but expressed concern about Homes for Homes being a drop in the ocean and the retirement village amendments potentially increasing costs for smaller operators and their residents.
“I would hate to see smaller operators who may have previously been able to deal with financial reporting requirements internally now having to engage external accounting services to meet the proposed requirements.”— 2023-03-28View Hansard
Supported the bill as part of the government's biggest ever concentrated investment in social housing, defending the Homes for Homes initiative and retirement village reforms while criticising the LNP and Greens for blocking housing solutions.
“Our government does not claim for a moment that Homes for Homes is a silver bullet for all the current pressures on housing markets across Australia. Because housing is so tough right now, our government will continue to use every lever at our disposal.”— 2023-03-28View Hansard
Supported the bill but criticised the government for taking six months after the Housing Summit to bring measures forward, noting the Homes for Homes donations will be a drop in the ocean and expressing reservations about retirement village amendment costs.
“The government has treated the housing crisis as a political problem, a media problem. However, you cannot put a roof over someone's head with a media release.”— 2023-03-28View Hansard
Supported the bill as one of many necessary measures to address the housing shortage, defending the $2 billion Housing Investment Fund and criticising the Greens for blocking federal housing legislation.
“The truth is that the market will simply not provide enough affordable and social housing without a suite of legislative and financial policy mechanisms from all levels of government.”— 2023-03-28View Hansard
Supported the bill but criticised the government for lacking anyone in charge of the housing crisis, arguing the build-to-rent program is an admission of systemic failure in the private rental market.
“I feel like we are living in a parallel universe. We hear Labor members sprout that they are holding round tables and they have a plan to address the housing crisis, yet what we have not seen is anyone in charge in this government.”— 2023-03-28View Hansard