Michael Ferguson,Minister for State Development, Construction and Housing
The Tasmanian Liberal Government is building more homes for our most vulnerable and improving social housing for tenants, while boosting our economy and creating jobs.
The Community Housing Growth Program (CHGP), announced last year is on track to deliver up to 1,000 new social and affordable homes over the next three years.
The Community Housing Growth Program is part of the Tasmanian Government’s record investment into social and affordable housing, and homelessness initiatives – from next month’s budget it will further expand to $615 million.
This includes a $280 million commitment to build more social housing for Tasmanians in need, the State’s largest building program of new social housing for decades. This means around 3,500 Tasmanian households will have a new home by 2027.
This will create jobs and provide a boost to the Tasmanian economy in the order of $812 million.
The second round will deliver a further 104 dwellings. The third and final round of the CHGP will meet the initial target of 1,000 properties by delivering:
* 30 modular homes in backyards of sites owned by the Tasmanian Government;
* 20 modular homes for young people on sites owned by the Tasmanian Government; and,
* a further 82 social housing dwellings that will prioritise Local Government Areas underrepresented in rounds one and two.
As a result of these investments, new homes will be spread across 20 Local Government Areas, providing homes for those who need them most and underpinning jobs in every region of the State.
The CHGP will also increase choice and provide more access to good quality social housing for vulnerable Tasmanians.
A key plank of the CHGP process is the further transfer of 2,000 public housing properties to community housing providers. This process will result in long-term management agreements until 2040 which will provide certainty and confidence for both tenants and financial institutions.
Mission Australia Housing and Centacare Evolve Housing will expand their services in southern Tasmania and Community Housing Limited and Housing Choices Tasmania will expand their services in the north and north west respectively.
New services will be staged with Centacare Evolve Housing commencing from Wednesday, 1 September 2021. Centacare Evolve Housing has begun talking with their new tenants about their services and support.
Community housing providers are critical to improving social housing because they have more ways of funding their housing services.
Under new long-term agreements until June 2040, Tasmania’s four major community housing providers will access over $300 million in Commonwealth Rent Assistance alone to increase, maintain and upgrade properties.
They will also offer greater confidence and capacity to borrow funds that will leverage hundreds of new homes over the term.
Delivery of this program will simultaneously strengthen Tasmania’s social housing system and ensure its sustainability as one of the nation’s most integrated and innovative models.
