In late February 2015 Lord Mayor Graham Quirk announced a subsidy to incentivise the development of purpose-built and centrally located accommodation for students.
There is a temporary three-year reduction in Council’s adopted infrastructure charges for student accommodation projects. The reduction will only be available for development in areas already zoned medium and high density residential or zoned as ‘centres’ that were located in CBD and inner city locations within a 4km radius of the GPO, were very accessible to public transport and had an active onsite management.
The reduction would be implemented in parallel with a new Queensland Urban Utilities infrastructure charge category for water and sewerage connections for student accommodation projects. The combined Council and QUU infrastructure charges for a one-bedroom dwelling have been reduced from approximately $18,000 to $4,560.
The incentive applies to development applications received and approved between 1 July 2014 and 30 June 2017 where the construction commences within two years of the Development Approval.
The incentive represents a significant saving to the development cost of student accommodation, which typically has a high number of relatively small dwellings. Vesi’s Director Jason Hedges has worked on the feasibility and design of student accommodation and understands the specific feasibility and design requirements of such developments. These specific requirements are influenced by functional considerations, and the valuation model utilized for such developments. The development and design requirements vary significantly from those of apartments, which are typically developed for individual sale.
The provision of purpose-built student accommodation in Australia is a less developed market than in other countries and there is a high level of interest in the sector from institutional investors. If you have a site or project where you are considering student accommodation, we are able to assist you.
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