There were 192,393 properties in Qld unoccupied during Census night 2021.
One in five of the million homes empty on Census night were in Qld, Census 2021 data has confirmed – a thorn in the side of authorities as the state battles its worst rental crisis ever.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics 2021 Census data found that there were nearly 11 million (10,852,208) private dwellings counted – up by almost a million (950,712) since the last count in 2016 – with over a million unoccupied nationally.
Not all the properties that were unoccupied were abandoned, with some used as holiday homes or investments. Picture Jay Town.
“Not all dwellings were occupied on Census night (such as vacant holiday homes or vacant investment properties), with the 2021 Census finding more than one million (1,043,776) unoccupied dwellings,” an ABS statement said.
The data tables showed that of those vacant properties on Census night, 192,393 were in Qld, making up 8.7 per cent of the state’s total dwellings (2,195,595).
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Empty, vacant or under-utilised homes have been a bone of contention among housing experts and Qld authorities, with the Brisbane City Council announcing higher rates for owners of properties that are on short-term letting, and also looking into the potential to seize abandoned homes.
Housing Trust homes in South Australia are among homes empty nationally, with some being sold off to private buyers or left vacant. Picture Emma Brasier
Australian statistician Dr David Gruen said “the Census provides a unique snapshot of where people slept on Census night”.
“During the Census, we reached people staying in hotels, those travelling on Census night, and even Australians working offshore.”
Census 2021 counted a large variety of alternative dwellings in the count, including caravans (58,155), cabins and houseboats (29,369).
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