Cannot build for latest Android on UE 4.26

I am unable to build my project after changing the project settings to build for newer android devices.
the error tells me to change the gradle.properties, but this will always fail because it is in the intermediate folder and gets generated every time you package the project. Nothing I do fixes it and I have been struggling for more than a week now.

UATHelper: Packaging (Android (Multi:ASTC,DXT,ETC2)): FAILURE: Build failed with an exception.
UATHelper: Packaging (Android (Multi:ASTC,DXT,ETC2)):
UATHelper: Packaging (Android (Multi:ASTC,DXT,ETC2)): * What went wrong:
UATHelper: Packaging (Android (Multi:ASTC,DXT,ETC2)): Execution failed for task ‘:app:compileDebugAidl’.
UATHelper: Packaging (Android (Multi:ASTC,DXT,ETC2)): > This project uses AndroidX dependencies, but the ‘android.useAndroidX’ property is not enabled. Set this property to true in the gradle.properties file and retry.
UATHelper: Packaging (Android (Multi:ASTC,DXT,ETC2)): The following AndroidX dependencies are detected: androidx.core:core:1.3.2, androidx.versionedparcelable:versionedparcelable:1.1.0, androidx.fragment:fragment:1.1.0, androidx.appcompat:appcompat:1.2.0, androidx.customview:customview:1.0.0, androidx.interpolator:interpolator:1.0.0, androidx.loader:load
er:1.0.0, androidx.activity:activity:1.0.0, androidx.drawerlayout:drawerlayout:1.0.0, androidx.collection:collection:1.1.0, androidx.viewpager:viewpager:1.0.0, androidx.arch.core:core-common:2.1.0, androidx.savedstate:savedstate:1.0.0, androidx.annotation:annotation:1.1.0, androidx.core:core-ktx:1.3.2, androidx.appcompat:appcompat-resources:1.2.0, androidx.l
ifecycle:lifecycle-common:2.1.0, androidx.lifecycle:lifecycle-livedata:2.0.0, androidx.lifecycle:lifecycle-viewmodel:2.1.0, androidx.lifecycle:lifecycle-livedata-core:2.0.0, androidx.arch.core:core-runtime:2.0.0, androidx.cursoradapter:cursoradapter:1.0.0, androidx.vectordrawable:vectordrawable-animated:1.1.0, androidx.lifecycle:lifecycle-runtime:2.1.0, andr
oidx.vectordrawable:vectordrawable:1.1.0
UATHelper: Packaging (Android (Multi:ASTC,DXT,ETC2)):
UATHelper: Packaging (Android (Multi:ASTC,DXT,ETC2)): * Try:
UATHelper: Packaging (Android (Multi:ASTC,DXT,ETC2)): Run with --stacktrace option to get the stack trace. Run with --info or --debug option to get more log output. Run with --scan to get full insights.
UATHelper: Packaging (Android (Multi:ASTC,DXT,ETC2)):
UATHelper: Packaging (Android (Multi:ASTC,DXT,ETC2)): * Get more help at https://help.gradle.org
UATHelper: Packaging (Android (Multi:ASTC,DXT,ETC2)):
UATHelper: Packaging (Android (Multi:ASTC,DXT,ETC2)): BUILD FAILED in 5s
UATHelper: Packaging (Android (Multi:ASTC,DXT,ETC2)): > Task :app:compileDebugAidl FAILED
UATHelper: Packaging (Android (Multi:ASTC,DXT,ETC2)): 1 actionable task: 1 executed
UATHelper: Packaging (Android (Multi:ASTC,DXT,ETC2)): ERROR: cmd.exe failed with args /c “C:\my work\ARMonkey\PHENIXX MODULES\Modules\TEST\EthosMetaverseSC\Intermediate\Android\armv7\gradle\rungradle.bat” :app:assembleDebug
PackagingResults: Error: cmd.exe failed with args /c “C:\my work\ARMonkey\PHENIXX MODULES\Modules\TEST\EthosMetaverseSC\Intermediate\Android\armv7\gradle\rungradle.bat” :app:assembleDebug
UATHelper: Packaging (Android (Multi:ASTC,DXT,ETC2)): Took 7.8705904s to run UnrealBuildTool.exe, ExitCode=6
UATHelper: Packaging (Android (Multi:ASTC,DXT,ETC2)): UnrealBuildTool failed. See log for more details. (C:\Users\trebl\AppData\Roaming\Unreal Engine\AutomationTool\Logs\C+Program+Files+Epic+Games+UE_4.26\UBT-DogeRun-Android-Shipping.txt)
UATHelper: Packaging (Android (Multi:ASTC,DXT,ETC2)): AutomationTool exiting with ExitCode=6 (6)
UATHelper: Packaging (Android (Multi:ASTC,DXT,ETC2)): BUILD FAILED
PackagingResults: Error: Unknown Error