As the housing shortage deepens across Australia, YIFBY (Yes In Faith’s Back Yard) is a bold policy change being led by Therefor Group, to activate the under-utilised landholdings of faith-based groups for social and affordable housing.
Many faith-based organisations own significant amounts of well-located land, often in established communities with existing urban services. Yet, much of this land remains underutilised and locked up by heavy zoning restrictions. The YIFBY movement recognises this untapped potential, encouraging faith-based and other charitable institutions to reimagine their land as a mechanism to enact their mission to provide housing for the vulnerable.
First pioneered in California, the 2023 YIGBY (Yes In God’s Back Yard) Bill was signed into laws by the governor to rezone land owned by religious institutions and nonprofit colleges, enabling it to be used for affordable housing developments. In 2023, Therefor Group hosted an industry round table with planners, community housing providers, faith-based organisations and other industry leaders, sounding out how a similar YIGBY approached could be adapted for Queensland, laying the groundwork for transformative planning reform. From this, YIFBY was born, spearheaded by Therefor Group with the support of QShelter and the Archdiocese of Brisbane.
The Current Environment, and how YIFBY can help
Queensland is currently experiencing a housing affordability crisis, with a significant undersupply of dwellings – particularly affordable homes for low to moderate income earners. The State Government have set a target for 1 million new homes to be constructed by 2044, including 53,500 social and community homes.
After 18 months of dedicated advocacy by our YIFBY experts – Amy Marsden, Natalie Rayment and Tom Kennedy, in partnership with Q Shelter and the Catholic Archdiocese of Brisbane, and small reforms along the way (including the opportunity to utilise the new State Facilitated Development (SFD) pathway), a landmark reform was implemented in December 2024. The Queensland Government amended the state’s planning framework to support the development of community housing on church and charity-owned land. The changes include:
- New streamlined Ministerial Infrastructure Designation (MID) process commenced with operational guidance released to give effect to this streamlined process, aimed at fast tracking and reducing costs on high priority proposals;
- Amendments to the State planning framework to incorporate affordable housing within the definition and purpose of Community facilities zoned land across Queensland; and
- Enabling the use of existing presbyteries to for residential purposes, no longer needing to be associated with the church activity.
“This is land that’s already in the urban fabric but it’s zoned ‘community’ not ‘residential’, so we need to have a subtle change in the planning rules to unlock that,” Rayment said, “let’s get a little more utilisation of that land that’s sitting there.” – Natalie Rayment 1
Delivering Housing Through the YIFBY Approach
Despite their vast and well-located landholdings, faith-based groups are often constrained in their ability to activate their land. As many are not registered community housing providers, they lack access to State and Federal funding, such as the HAFF, HIF or QuickStarts.
By allowing churches and charities to retain ownership of their land while partnering with experienced community housing providers through long-term leases, the ground lease model reduces risk, provides CHPs with access to well-located land, and accelerates housing delivery.
Therefor Group have a distinct understanding of this ground-lease model and have successfully assisted faith-based and community housing clients to navigate this process.
A Movement in Motion
In April 2025, our team were incredibly proud to obtain development approval for 44 affordable homes at New Cleveland Road, Wakerley in partnership with the Catholic Archdiocese of Brisbane. This approval marked a significant milestone for YIFBY, serving as the first demonstration of affordable housing developed on faith-based land delivered through the State Facilitated Development (SFD) pathway.
Public interest in YIFBY has continued to grow, with our team actively sharing the vision through media appearances and industry events. From interviews on ABC Radio to presentations at housing and industry forums, the team behind YIFBY have been connecting with diverse audiences to highlight how faith-based land can help address Queensland housing shortage.
For more information on YIFBY and housing opportunities, get in touch with our social and affordable housing experts, led by Director of Planning – Amy Marsden
