Moreton Bay Regional Council is considering introducing a buyback scheme for properties that regularly flood.

The southeastern Queensland council has established a working group to investigate the viability of the idea, following requests from more than 300 local property owners in low-lying areas.

The move follows a similar plan introduced by the Lockyer Valley Regional Council earlier this year to provide a free land-swap to residents who were affected by January’s floods. The Victorian Government has also offered to buy back flood-affected farmland in the Kerang area.

Moreton Bay Mayor Allan Sutherland says the working group will assess issues including “eligibility, viability and the cost to ratepayers”, before reporting its findings by the end of September.

He says that after initial discussions with both the state and federal government regarding financial assistance, “at this stage, it appears [that] if council was to proceed with a flood buyback scheme it will be one that would more than likely be funded by the region’s ratepayers”.

“I don’t want to get anybody’s hopes up,” he said. “There’s a lot for the working group to explore ahead of any decision on a flood buyback scheme.”

Under the Lockyer Valley scheme, eligible residents from Grantham, Murphys Creek, Postmans Ridge, Withcott and Helidon can swap their existing properties for those within a new site outside the flood zone.

The development is expected to cost the council $30-40 million over the coming years.

The first land release, of 80 lots, is being finalised, and two further land releases will be conducted in late this year and early next year.

Residents who take up the offer will be given an equivalent-sized block of land in the new development, with allocation done via a ballot system where residents can nominate their first, second and third preferences.