State Government Logo
Budget 2021-22
< Budget Home

Building more homes for Tasmanians in need and more support for home ownership

26 August 2021

Michael Ferguson MP

Minister for State Development

The Tasmanian Liberal Government is investing a record $615 million into social and affordable housing, and homelessness initiatives to help more Tasmanians in need.

Now more than ever, it’s important that we take action to meet increased demand for housing as a result of economic strength, increased employment and a growing population. We are investing in a comprehensive Tasmanian Housing Strategy and taking immediate action to meet increased demand for social and affordable housing.

That’s why we are investing $300 million through Tasmania’s Affordable Housing Actions Plan 1 and 2 and Community Housing Growth Program to help around 5,000 Tasmanian households out of housing stress or homelessness by the end of June 2023, including around 2,350 new social housing dwellings.

On top of that investment, the 2021-22 Tasmanian Budget secures an additional $315 million for social and affordable housing and homelessness across the State, providing 3,500 new social houses to be built by 2027.

$2 million will also go towards the development of the first ever comprehensive and long-term Tasmanian Housing Strategy, which will consider demand across both the public and private sectors and formulate strategies to deliver sustainable outcomes for Tasmanians.

We already have a number of successful initiatives including our ancillary dwellings incentive, the First Home Owner Grant, and the HomeBuilder and Residential Land Rebate programs.  The new strategy will consider a range of other initiatives, like extending rental assistance programs, a build-to-rent program, housing options for workers in critical industries and commercial property conversions. Importantly, we will search for further ways to incentivise and encourage the great Australian dream of home ownership.

Since the start of our first Affordable Housing Strategy in 2015, homes have been built, Tasmanians housed and the vulnerable provided immediate shelter. This program of work has included;

  • 1,105 new long term homes have been built, including 972 social housing properties and 133 units of supported accommodation, including 298 in the past year alone;
  • An additional 69 units of homeless accommodation have been completed for Tasmanians who are experiencing or face homelessness. There are currently a further 1,063 long term homes and units of homeless accommodation in the pipeline;
  • All up, a total of 2,881 households have been assisted into affordable homes. This includes the new supply of affordable lots and homes, as well as helping households into safe and affordable housing through initiatives like HomeShare, Streets Ahead, Private Rental Incentives and Rapid Rehousing.

The Government has also committed almost $4.3 million towards helping those Tasmanians experiencing homelessness through the COVID-19 Response and Recovery Measures announced in April 2020.

Our Community Housing Growth Program (CHGP) is the next step in growing social housing and the role of community housing providers in Tasmania.

It will build on and improve the Better Housing Futures program and will transfer a further 2,000 properties State-wide to registered community housing providers.

Critically, the CHGP also includes a growth strategy with the release of around $100 million in capital grants to construct social housing that will contribute to Tasmania’s social and economic recovery from COVID-19.

No previous Tasmanian government has experienced this level of economic strength together with population growth. Nor has any previous government responded with such strong measures to deal with the increasing pressure on housing. We understand that stable and safe housing is critical for Tasmanians and that’s why we are increasing supply at record levels.

We are building more homes, helping more Tasmanians into home ownership and assisting those most vulnerable as we deliver our Plan to secure Tasmania’s future.