Town with year-round sunshine offering people £10,000 to move there – and there’s only a slight catch
A TOWN with year-round sunshine has offered people £10,000 to move there – but there is a slight catch.
The tantalising offer stands for anyone that wants to relocate to Quilpie, Queensland, permanently.
The local government has pledged £10,000 through a Home Owner Grant Scheme aimed to boost its population.
It was originally £6,800 but now Quilpie Shire Council has boosted its offer to make it more affordable for people to build in the region.
The scheme was increased to match the town’s rise in land valuations.
However, there is a slight catch.
Justin Hancock, Quilpie Shire CEO, said applicants must build on their land and live in their new home for at least six months to receive the cash injection.
He said: “We were the first council in Outback Queensland to introduce such a policy, and it was a huge success.
“We had interest from all around Australia as well as globally from the US, India and Ireland.
“Two years on, we continue to grow our population and have interest from people in moving to the Outback, especially as the cost of living on the coast and metro areas is really starting to hit hard this year.
“We’ve recently sold two blocks of land to a Tokyo-based university professor who intends on moving his young family and working from Quilpie.
“It’s exciting to know that our connectivity is going to allow someone to trade the bright lights of Tokyo for the red dirt of the Outback.”
Quilpie is about 590 miles west of the state’s capital, Brisbane.
The remote Australian town boasts two supermarkets, a butcher, baker, newsagency, hairdresser, a hospital, medical centre and a pharmacy.
It also has as two schools and an early learning centre for those planning to relocate with a family.
Despite its adequate infrastructure, only 800 people currently live there.
Stuart Mackenzie, the Quilpie Mayor, said the council hoped to grow the town’s population back to 1000 residents.
Mackenzie said: “Despite the recent baby boom of our existing residents, we’ve had more than ten locally-based families welcome babies over the past few months.
“But we still need new residents to move into our region to help support this goal.”
The Australian government is also amid a “recruitment drive” to bring Brits over to work for supersized salaries.