An Australian outback town is so eager to grow its population that it is offering $20,000 to entice residents to move there and help the region grow.
Quilpie is a small town in Queensland in the middle of nowhere, 1000 km west of Brisbane and close to the Northern Territory border.
With land prices under $20,000, the region is essentially giving away lots to newcomers willing to move to the desert.
Quilpie Shire Council first introduced its Home Owner Grant two years ago, offering a $12,500 grant for people buying and building land in the region of the same size as Tasmania.
It now hopes that raising the scheme to $20,000 will boost the city’s population by 20 percent to 1,000.
Quilpie Shire Council Justin Hancock (pictured) hopes to attract more locals to the outback town
“We were the first council in Outback Queensland to introduce such a policy, and it was a huge success – we had interest from all over Australia and globally from the US, India and Ireland,” council chairman Justin Hancock told the Western Times.
“Our new $20,000 grant will cover most of the price of their land if they build and live on it.”
“It would be hard to find a better deal anywhere in Australia,” Mr Hancock said in 2021.
“Depending on the cost of the country chosen, it could be that we are, in fact, giving away land.”
The grant has been increased to account for rising land values, tariffs and cost-of-living pressures.
The initiative was first launched when the city had more job openings than houses.
It saw seven blocks of land sold and attracted new business to Quilpie.
It has succeeded in luring a Japanese academic to the city.
The town of Quilpie has many amenities that residents need. In the photo is the main street
Amenities include supermarkets, butchers, bakery, newsagent, hairdressers, shops, hospital, medical centre, pharmacy, two schools, early learning centre, community gym, sports ovals, tennis and basketball courts, free swimming pools , weekly flights and lots of open space.
To qualify 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 as their city friends grapple with the real estate market.
He has a job with the council while his partner moved to Quilpie to teach.
“There probably aren’t many people our age coming into the real estate market – but it’s so affordable in Quilpie, and even more so with this great land grant, and we’re confident it will be a great investment for our future,” said Mr Hennessy.
“It’s a great lifestyle and small town vibe, there’s no crime and everyone’s pretty laid back.”
Quilpie (pictured) is located 1000 km west of Brisbane and is close to the Northern Territory border
The couple were among the original recipients of the scheme in 2021 and were happy with their investment.
“It has increased the value of the land – we didn’t expect this to take off,” said Mr. Hennessy told Daily Mail Australia at the time.
“The land was $12,500, but with the grant we can get all of that back,” he explained.
“The house was about $100,000.”
The home scholarship scheme has lured a Japanese academic to live in Quilpie (pictured)