About the Resilient Homes Fund
The Queensland and Australian Governments developed the $741 million Resilient Homes Fund to help Queenslanders across 39 local government areas whose homes were impacted by the 2021-2022 floods.
This is the first household resilience program of its kind to ever be offered in Australia and has the potential to change Queenslanders’ lives and the region’s resilience to flooding.
The aim of the program is to help as many Queenslanders as possible with the funding available.
Investing in resilience measures in the home can significantly reduce the effort, cost and time to recover from disasters. It not only reduces the physical and financial costs, but the social and emotional impacts as well.
The Design Guidance for Flood Resilient Homes provides more information on how you can help make your home more flood resilient. It includes information about flood risks, flood-resilient building design approaches and resilience strategies for different house types.
Registrations of interest for the Resilient Homes Fund have closed.
The funded programs
Under the Resilient Homes Fund, funding is available to assist eligible flood-impacted homeowners to repair (enhancing resilience), retrofit, raise or demolish and rebuild or relocate flood-affected homes.
Voluntary Home Buy-Back was considered for homes that were the most severely impacted and at the greatest risk of future flooding. The Voluntary Home Buy-Back program has closed as all properties have now been identified.
Repair or retrofit your home
The Resilient Retrofit program provides funding to repair (enhance resilience) or retrofit your home to:
- incorporate flood resilient design and materials in liveable rooms or areas
- raise or relocate services essential to the continued liveability of the home.
Read about the types of repairs and improvements you can make to your property under the Resilient Retrofit program.
Raise your home
The Home Raising program provides funding to raise your home to reduce the impacts of future flood events.
You would need to raise your habitable floors to meet or exceed the required assessed flood level, specified by your local council.
If your home is not practical to raise, such as those built on concrete slabs, you may be eligible for financial assistance to demolish and rebuild or relocate your home above the assessed flood level.
Read more about how the Home Raising program can help you.
Demolish and rebuild or relocate your home
In limited circumstances, you may be eligible for financial assistance to demolish and rebuild or relocate your home above the assessed flood level.
This is available for homes that cannot practically be raised, such as those built on concrete slabs.
This may also include demolishing part of your home and moving it above the assessed flood level.
Read more about demolition and rebuild or relocate options.
Deciding on a funding option
Part of the eligibility milestones in the Resilient Homes Fund is a Home Assessment Report, which will highlight options and resilience measures that might help you.
You can only receive funding under one program.
If more than one funding option has been identified for your home, assess the benefits and risks, timing and costs associated with the programs and your personal circumstances to choose which option is best for you.
Available funding
Eligible homeowners can apply for funding of:
- up to $50,000 (with co-contribution) toward repairing (enhancing resilience) or retrofitting their home, or
- up to $100,000 (with co-contribution) toward the cost of raising homes
- up to $100,000 (with no co-contribution) toward the cost of demolishing and rebuilding or extending their home.
If works are estimated above these amounts for a home raise or resilient retrofit, homeowners will be required to contribute on a dollar-for-dollar basis. For example: If a homeowner was quoted $120,000 to raise their house, an approved applicant would receive:
- the base funding of $100,000
- then a further $10,000 co-contribution from the fund
- then the homeowner would contribute the remaining $10,000.
Homeowners experiencing genuine hardship (determined by the government) may be able to have this waived.
Co-contribution is not available if you choose to demolish and rebuild or relocate your home.
If your current home insurance policy covers inundation by floodwaters from one of the 2021-22 disaster season events, make sure you have made a claim with your insurer first. Learn more about how insurance affects your ability to apply for funding.
Eligibility
There are several steps and eligibility milestones to meet before homeowners are approved for funding.
Learn more about eligibility.
Next steps
Want to learn more about the funding programs? Read more about the Resilient Retrofit program, Home Raising program, Demolish and rebuild or relocate options.
Further information
Whether you are eligible for the Resilient Homes Fund or not, there may be other assistance available to you. Learn about the additional practical support available to homeowners.
If you are living in an unsafe home, you can access immediate support for temporary accommodation or apply for a Structural Assistance Grant to make your home safe and habitable. Call the Community Recovery Hotline on 1800 173 349.