Task Force TV

The Housing Model Australia Should Have Built Years Ago

Tue, 15 Sep 2026 23:40:27 GMT

Is the housing crisis solvable?

Kevin is an advocate of solving the housing crisis. His work in this area is proof. Listen to his thoughts and decide for yourself

6 Houses on 680 Square Metres

Tue, 15 Sep 2026 23:40:18 GMT

These properties sit on a 20m wide frontage, and allow us to put six houses on 680 square metres.

Watch the video to find out how this was done and why we need to bring this forgotten housing model back.

Kevin Doodney is:

1) Helping investors into properties returning up to 8.5% to help their portfolios grow faster. This helps investors to replace their passive income sooner also.

2) Helping investors to invest in high social impact properties which make a real difference to people’s lives. Essentially we are a group of private investors helping to solve the rental crisis in Australia.

Why Equity Can Trap Property Investors Instead Of Building Wealth

Fri, 11 Sep 2026 05:05:08 GMT

Housing Unplugged, Episode 1 – with Christie Leet of Sherpa

Most investors think of equity as free money: borrow against what you've built and keep going. In this first episode of Housing Unplugged, developer Christie Leet explains why equity is actually the dearest form of debt, and why chasing it can keep investors stuck instead of building real wealth.

Christie is the cane farmer's son behind Sherpa. He is building apartments for around $4,000 a square metre while the industry says it can't be done under $10,000. He reserves entire floors for first home buyers, sells 5% below market, and shares the one ratio that decides whether a high-rise deal works.

In this episode:

The true cost of equity, and why it’s the dearest form of debt (26:38)
First home buyers in a high-rise (9:07)
The 60% rule that makes deals work (12:22)
The truth about build costs (16:28)
How to find “unicorn” sites (36:15)
Feasibility 101 for beginners (41:52)

This is how affordable housing actually gets built.

Easing The Renter Hunger Games

Fri, 04 Sep 2026 03:48:05 GMT

FUTURE HOUSING TASKFORCE WORKS TO EASE THE RENTER HUNGER GAMES

Easing The Renter Hunger Games

The Courier-Mail has labelled it Renter Hunger Games: the daily battle faced by the state’s renters to get a roof over their heads.

On July 10, Queensland’s major daily newspaper highlighted how the state’s housing deficit was predicted to get worse rather than better over the next four years at least, with a further 20,000 home shortfall predicted by 2027, based on population growth trends.

“Sadly, that means we can expect to continue to see queues of desperate would-be renters sharing top billing with the youth crime and health crises on our evening news broadcasts,” said Housing Taskforce founder and director Kevin Doodney.

“And make no mistake, the lack of somewhere to call home is just as great a crisis for our society.”

Referring to the Courier-Mail article (Home shortfall crisis looms), Kevin agreed with the Master Builder Australia’s assessment that the state government needed to take a ‘multi-faceted approach, including an overhaul of developer charges’.

“However, the solution doesn’t simply lie in building more high-rise and townhouse developments, as the Courier-Mail article suggests,” Kevin said.

“This type of development requires development approvals, which take a lot of time to go through council, often incurring lengthy delays in the application process. This won’t be fast enough to meet the urgent demand,” he said.

“Through Smarter Smaller designed rooming houses, we’ve proven that a modern take on an old concept – the rooming house – can fill a niche that works for investors and tenants alike.

“Appealing to investors who want to make a genuine social difference along with a sound financial return, our rooming houses are also proving a boon to single working people in our community who otherwise struggle to find long-term rental accommodation, despite holding down permanent, and often well paying, jobs.

“It’s important that potential future Housing Taskforce investor-members understand that we’re not talking about old-style rooming houses with all the negative connotations of down-and-out, itinerant people just existing in rundown share houses,” Kevin said.

“While we strongly support efforts to increase the supply of social housing for the many economically and socially disadvantaged Queenslanders, our rooming houses are aimed at a different type of renter: the teachers, essential services workers and other important people who work to provide for our daily needs.

“Such is the state of our housing market that many of these full-time workers and professional people are having to rely on couch-surfing as a bed for the night. And don’t believe for a moment that there are not people out there today who have to return from a day’s work to one of those tents which are becoming part of our urban landscape.

“We are increasingly in an era of the working homeless.”

But therein lay the opportunity for investors with the business acumen to match their social conscience, Kevin said.

“Many single people in full-time employment simply want a comfortable place to call ‘home’ at the end of each day – a ‘sacred space’ where they can unwind and relax in a secure, private environment. That’s what we’re providing through working with investors to build rooming houses with five rooms per residential block. They are strategically located in relation to major employment hubs and amenities across Brisbane.”

Kevin praised the Brisbane City Council for facilitating these modern rooming houses through its enlightened approach to suppressing infrastructure charges, while other south-east Queensland councils still imposed infrastructure charges at levels that made such projects unviable.

“What Brisbane City Council has done by not imposing infrastructure charges in this high interest rate environment has bolstered trust and confidence in the Brisbane property market. And most importantly increased the supply of affordable housing options. Brisbane rooming houses has attracted investors nationwide, still willing to invest despite 13 interest rate rises” he said.

“We’ll keep talking to those other councils, seeking to convince them of the overall benefits to their regions of providing decent, economical housing options for people who want to live and work there.

“Meanwhile, with over 200 rooming houses already completed in Brisbane and a further 70 in various stages of construction, we’ll continue to work with investors to play our role in providing affordable housing in this city, while offering them a strong return – typically in the order of eight percent or more – to keep investing in a high interest rate environment viable.”

Introducing... The Smarter Small Home | LookHome Magazine 2009

Fri, 21 Aug 2026 13:02:19 GMT

The Smarter Small Home: An Affordable Housing Idea That Was Ahead of Its Time

In 2009, LookHome Magazine dedicated an entire issue to a housing idea that challenged one of Australia’s most entrenched assumptions: that a better home must also be a bigger home. At the centre of the issue was The Smarter Small Home™ , an experimental Australian housing project driven by property industry veteran Kevin Doodney and designer Brett Blacklow .

Its objective was deceptively simple: could Australia create a home that was genuinely affordable without sacrificing good design, lifestyle or sustainability?

More than 15 years later, the questions behind the project feel remarkably familiar. Australia continues to debate housing affordability, construction costs, planning reform, housing density and the shortage of homes that ordinary Australians can afford. The Smarter Small Home demonstrated that another approach was possible.

A small lot, small house, smart choice of materials and an efficient construction method are the key ingredients in delivering a home that is stylish, sustainable - and very affordable.

LookHome Magazine, Issue 7 / 2009

The Problem Was Already Clear in 2009

Rising home prices, slower wage growth, planning constraints and increasing demand were making home ownership harder for everyday Australians.

With households getting smaller but homes getting bigger, Kevin Doodney asked a simple question: Do we really need bigger homes to live better?

The goal: create an attractive, sustainable and liveable house-and-land package for less than $300,000 in 2009 terms.

Key Ideas

Start wit the land
A 300m2 block and a two-storey design unlocked affordability.

Small doesn't feel small
Smart layouts, natural light and outdoor connection make it live large.

Build differently, not just smaller
Question every material, method and construction step.

Less waste, less cost
Designing around materials reduces waste and saves money.

Sustainable by design
Passive design, efficiency and lower carbon impact.

By the Numbers (2009)

The Smarter Small Home™ prototype compared to a traditional home.

Designing Smarter, Building Differently

Smarter Small Home Design 2009

The Smarter Small Home was designed to make better use of compact residential blocks. In its most efficient configuration, the home sits toward the front of a rear-loaded lot, replacing separate front and back yards with one larger, more usable outdoor space. By removing the need for a long driveway, the design significantly reduces land that would otherwise be dedicated to vehicle access.

The concept can also be adapted to conventional lots. Early versions were planned for wider 15-metre blocks, demonstrating that the principles can work across different developments and site configurations.

The design also considers how individual homes contribute to the wider neighbourhood. Active street frontages, appropriate building scale and stronger connections between homes and public spaces can help create more attractive, identifiable and safer communities.

Where garages traditionally dominate the street, rear-access lanes offer another solution—moving vehicle access away from the main frontage and allowing homes, landscaping and people to create a more welcoming streetscape.

Why It Still Matters Today

More than 15 years later, Australia is still grappling with the same challenges. The Smarter Small Home showed that affordability, sustainability and good design can go hand in hand - if we're willing to question how things have always been done.

How Gold Coast’s New Planning Scheme Could Reshape Property and Housing

Thu, 20 Aug 2026 08:01:13 GMT

The Gold Coast is booming, but rapid economic growth is putting increasing pressure on housing affordability for the essential workers who keep the city running.

Future Housing Taskforce founder Kevin Doodney sits down with Deputy Mayor and Planning Chair Mark Hammel for an unplugged discussion, produced in collaboration with Unemployable Property.

The conversation tackles one of the Gold Coast’s biggest challenges: housing. With around 420 new residents arriving each week, housing supply running at less than half the level required, and many essential workers increasingly priced out of the city, the pressure on the market continues to grow.

Mark speaks openly about why previous affordable housing initiatives have struggled, what needs to change in the city’s new planning scheme, and why the housing problem may get worse before meaningful improvements are felt.

It is a candid discussion about population growth, planning, affordability and the decisions required to create a more sustainable housing future for the Gold Coast.