In response to the 2021 / 2022 QLD floods we are delighted to see that the QLD Government has established a house raising grant for homeowners who have been severely affected and may be eligible for funds up to $150,000 to raise their homes.
This amount has been risen from the original $100,000, as of March 2024 and is available to new and existing eligible homeowners, with reimbursments available if your application has already been approved by QRIDA.
There is still a focus on raising habitable floors in order to meet or exceed the required flood hazard levels (minimum habitable floor level), as prescribed by the relevant local government planning scheme. In summary, you are encouraged to raise your house and live on the top level to avoid habitable issues with future flooding.
This is a positive step forward for QLD residents affected by natural floods and Designer Planning can provide house raise plans for home owners that meet the following three suitability criteria in order to be successful for funding for the house raise itself.
- In the years 2021/22 your house was inundated with flood waters which went over the habitable floor level of your house
- The type of house you live in can actually be raised (e.g A house on stumps is much easier than a brick home which are harder to raise)
- Your habitable floor level is below what is classified as a minimum habitable floor level in your council area at the time the home assessment takes place.
If you meet these requirements we recommend making contact with our design team to source a free proposal as your first point of action.
Type of Funding Available:
The good news for QLD and Brisbane homeowners that meet the three criteria above is they can apply for Resilient Homes funding up to $150,000 which will go towards costs of the house raise project.
Should a home raise project exceed the available $150,000 of funding per homeowner, then some individuals may be available for a con-contribution model where additional work is matched funds dollar for dollar (this is determined individually after an interview with the RHF team). E.g: If a house raise comes in at $180,000, the Resilient program will fund the first $150,000 and you will halve the remaining $30,000 (or $50,000 each). Some homeowners may also be available for waivers to a co-contribution if they have a genuine hardship case.
Next Steps:
There is a detailed step by step guide via the QLD Government Resilient Homes website, which outlines how to:
- Register your interest
- Start a home assessment report
- Obtain a quote for plans
- And finally, apply to the Queensland Rural and Industry Development Authority (QRIDA)
Once the above steps have been completed and homeowners have submitted building and house raising quotes, the next step is to await for funding approval with the QRIDA which will then organise a payment structure with the house raise team or builder you have selected to carry out the works.
Obtaining professional house plans from a design company such as ourselves is an important first step to not only understanding the raise and build design process, but also help in obtaining firm building quotes from expert companies and builders that specialise in raising homes across QLD.
Our Process for Obtaining House Raise Plans:
There is a very simple way to obtain a free proposal for house raise plans for your project so you can get started.
- Fill out this quote form or call our team on 07 3087 5332 to discuss your project
- We will send a proposal which outlines the design process, steps and costs involved
- Should you with to partner with us, a designer will call you within 48 hours to arrange a site consult and measure
- Depending on the package you choose, we will either recommend engineers and certifiers to work with or help coordinate this for you
- We liaise with a number of well known builders and house raise companies and are happy to provides these contacts for you for additional quotes
To assist flood affected homeowners, we will be providing a special Resilient Homes Fund design package which includes a full set of house plans for a raise project for only $3400 inc GST (saving $600 off our normal raise plan prices).
If you have any questions about the planning process for raising your home, please reach out to the team at Designer Planning and we will happily talk you through the process and send you a free house raise proposal so you can learn more about our team and the work involved.