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Registrations open for the $741 million Resilient Homes Fund

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Queenslanders whose homes were damaged by floods can now register to access State Government grants to raise, repair, retrofit or have their home voluntarily bought back.

The $741 million Resilient Homes Fund is the largest home resilience program of its kind to be delivered in Australia and will help make Queensland homes more flood resilient.

Queensland is the most disaster-impacted state in Australia, with flooding being the highest risk to our community.

The State Government conducted initial assessments following the South East Queensland floods, finding almost 7000 homes with some degree of damage and more than 3600 of these were uninhabitable.

Grants will be available to assist Queensland homeowners to repair or retrofit their homes to incorporate flood resilient design and to raise homes to reduce the impacts of future flood events.

Resilient building design and materials will be incorporated to significantly reduce the effort, cost and time to help Queenslanders back into their homes now and in the future.

The State Government has worked closely with the Commonwealth, insurers and building industry representatives to help inform the program and to ensure the right assistance is provided to maximise the benefit to every affected homeowner.

The State Government is asking flood-affected Queenslanders within the eligible local government areas who are interested in a voluntary buy-back, house raising or retrofitting for resilience following the floods, to come forward, register their details and start the process.

The Department of Energy and Public Works will lead the delivery of the retrofitting and house-raising component of the program, whilst the Queensland Reconstruction Authority will manage any voluntary buy-backs together with local governments.

The $741 million Resilient Homes Fund is being delivered through the jointly funded Commonwealth-State Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements (DRFA).

Fast Facts

What funding is available?
Rebuilding more resilient homes

Grants will be available to assist eligible homeowners to repair or retrofit their homes to incorporate flood resilient design and materials. This could include replacement of floor coverings with a water-resistant finish such as tiles or polished concrete and moving power outlets to above recognised flood levels.

Raising homes
Grants will be available to eligible homeowners to raise homes to reduce the impacts of future flood events by lifting living areas and rooms above the defined flood level.

Buying back homes
In high-risk situations where repairing, retrofitting or raising are not considered suitable options, a voluntary buy-back of the residence may be considered.
Voluntary home buy-backs will be on a case-by-case basis and will consider a range of factors including the frequency of flooding, severity of flooding, structural safety of the property, future flood risk and broader social impacts.

Who can apply?
Queensland homeowners across 37 local government areas whose property was inundated as a result of any of the three major floods in 2021-22 including the South East Queensland floods (22 February 2022 onwards); the ex-Tropical Cyclone Seth floods (29 December 2021 – 10 January 2022); and the Central, Southern and Western Queensland flooding (10 November – 3 December 2021).

How do I register?
Register your interest at qld.gov.au/resilienthomes

Image: Flood-affected property in Meridan Plains during the South East Queensland floods (22 February 2022 onwards).

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