Today, it was my pleasure to hand over the keys for the first of 78 newly constructed two bedroom units to help ease Tasmania’s housing shortage.
Part of our Affordable Housing Strategy, the new Housing Tasmania units will be rolled out over the next couple of months and provide real relief for Tasmanians in need of affordable housing.
Building on our work in the last term of Government, today’s key hand over is another demonstration of our commitment to boost the supply of new affordable housing to meet growing demand.
Several emergency and affordable housing projects are rapidly nearing completion, and today is just an example of one of the many properties that will become progressively available from now through to June.
In addition to the 78 two-bedroom units across the state, a nine-unit facility for youth at risk in Moonah is nearing completion along with a 25-unit youth accommodation facility in Devonport. 15 units at the Hobart Women’s Shelter are now operational, and planning will start immediately for an additional women’s crisis shelter providing emergency accommodation in the south, and an assessment of need for similar solutions in the north and north-west.
So far our Affordable Housing Strategy has helped nearly 500 new households into affordable, secure and safe homes but we know more needs to be done.
That is why we are investing a further $125 million in the second stage of our Affordable Housing Plan. This is expected to provide an additional 1500 new affordable homes for Tasmanians, and assist around 2000 households.
This is on top of the $73.5 million already invested into housing, bringing the total investment to almost $200 million over eight years.
The Hodgman Liberal Government is prioritising actions to address the current housing shortage and progressing our four year Action Plan. This will also go a long way in helping us reach our target of tripling the number of new affordable houses by 2025.
A fact sheet on our actions to address the housing issues can be found here: http://www.premier.tas.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0020/373511/Action_on_Housing_Fact_Sheet.pdf