Roger Jaensch,Minister for Housing
The June Quarterly Housing Report confirms the Tasmanian Government is delivering on our commitment to increase the supply of social and affordable housing in Tasmania.
The report concludes the first year of the Government’s second Affordable Housing Action Plan, with almost 700 additional households assisted with their housing needs across this period.
This includes the delivery of 316 new social houses, release of 34 new affordable lots of land into the market and 43 new units of homeless accommodation.
We have also supported 69 households into home ownership for the first time and assisted over 200 others through programs such as Rapid Rehousing and our Private Rental Incentive Scheme.
Importantly, we are committed to continuing the momentum with around 150 more homes currently under construction and contracts for another 300 under negotiation.
I was also pleased today to table the Government’s response to the House of Assembly Select Committee on Housing Affordability.
The majority of the Report’s 61 recommendations point to actions, initiatives and projects that are either already underway or already completed and in many cases, the initiatives being undertaken are delivering better housing outcomes for Tasmanians than the actions recommended.
These include:
- Our $200 million investment into our Affordable Housing Action Plans;
- A $58 million investment over the four years to June 2023 into programmes that increase access to social housing, reduce homelessness, and improve housing supply across Tasmania;
- A $5 million investment to expand the capacity of existing crisis shelters in Hobart, including 18 new one bedroom pods at Bethlehem House, 10 new two bedroom units at the Hobart Women’s Shelter and leases on 7 additional family dwellings also to be managed by Hobart Women’s Shelter.
We have also acted decisively to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on Tasmania’s most vulnerable, with our $4.3 million investment to provide additional homelessness support through expanded 24-hour Safe Spaces in Hobart, Launceston and Burnie, as well as uncapped emergency accommodation brokerage and support services.
This extends on our $3.1 billion infrastructure and construction blitz that will include delivery of up to 1000 additional social houses, on top of our previous targets.
Increasing the supply of affordable housing is more important than ever as we recover from the COVID-19 pandemic as it will ensure Tasmanians have safe and secure accommodation, while supporting jobs in our vital building and construction sector.
Our road map for economic and social recovery will include the most aggressive construction program in Tasmania’s history, and we will continue doing all we can to increase the supply of social housing throughout the state.
The quarterly housing report can be found here: https://www.communities.tas.gov.au/housing/tasmanian_affordable_housing_strategy/reporting
