Australian town offering people $20,000 to move in

An Australian outback town is so interested in increasing its population that it offers $20,000 to entice residents to move there and help the region grow.

Quilpie is a small Queensland town in the middle of nowhere, 1000km west of Brisbane and close to the Northern Territory border.

With land prices below $20,000, the region is essentially giving away land to newcomers willing to move into the desert.

Quilpie Shire Council first introduced its Homeowners Grant two years ago, offering a $12,500 grant to people buying land and building in the region the size of Tasmania.

He now hopes that raising the scheme to $20,000 will increase the city’s population by 20 percent to 1,000.

“We were the first council in Outback Queensland to introduce such a policy, and it was a great success – we had interest from across Australia, as well as worldwide from the US, India and Ireland,” said the chief executive of the council, Justin Hancock. western times.

“Our new $20,000 grant will cover most of the price of their land if they build and live on it.”

“You’d be hard-pressed to find a better offer anywhere in Australia,” Hancock said in 2021.

“Depending on the cost of the chosen land, it may amount to us giving away the land.”

The subsidy has been increased to account for rising land valuations, rates and cost of living pressures.

The initiative was first launched when the town had more jobs than houses.

He saw seven blocks of land sold and brought new business to Quilpie.

He has succeeded in attracting a Japanese academic to the city.

Tessa McDougall and Tom Hennessy made the 1000km move to Quilpie from Brisbane

Amenities include supermarkets, a butcher, a bakery, a newsagent, hairdressers, retail stores, a hospital, a medical center, a pharmacy, two schools, an early learning center, a community gym, sports ovals, tennis and basketball courts , free pools. , weekly flights and lots of open space.

To be eligible for the grant, residents must be new homeowners, build a new property worth less than $750,000, and live in Quilpie for at least six months.

Young couple Tom Hennessy and Tessa McDougall have no regrets calling Quilpie home while their out-of-town friends struggle with the housing market.

He has a council job while his partner moved to Quilpie to take up a teaching position.

“Probably not a lot of people our age are getting into the real estate market, but it’s so affordable in Quilpie, and even more so with this great land grant, and we’re sure it’s going to be a great investment for our future.” ‘ Hennessy said.

“It’s a great lifestyle and a small town atmosphere, there’s no crime and everyone is pretty laid back.”

Quilpie (pictured) is 1000 km west of Brisbane and is close to the Northern Territory border.

The home grant scheme has lured a Japanese academic to live in Quilpie (pictured)

The couple were among the original beneficiaries of the program in 2021 and were happy with their investment.

“Land values ​​have gone up, we didn’t expect this to take off,” Hennessy told Daily Mail Australia at the time.

“The land cost $12,500, but with the grant we can recover all of that,” he explained.

“The house was about $100,000.”