Up to $40 million worth of construction work on 103 new public housing homes is expected to start within days following the awarding of tenders to local builders.
Awarding of tenders is the latest milestone in the SA Government’s $232.7million Public Housing Improvement Program (PHIP), which has committed to build 564 new SA Housing Authority homes across the state.
SA Minister of Human Services, Nat Cook said work on the first of the new homes was set to start soon. New properties will be built in Kilburn, Broadview, Felixstow, Woodville, Edwardstown, Paradise, Hectorville, Whyalla, Port Augusta and Renmark. Building work is scheduled for completion in 2024.
“Awarding of contracts for the construction of these much-needed homes across the state is a major step forward in supply and it’s made all the more positive knowing that work is starting virtually straight away,” said Minister Cook.
“It’s another demonstration of the fact we’re delivering on our commitment to build new public housing where it is needed most, at a time when increasing the supply of these homes could not be more crucial.
“At the beginning of May we unveiled the very first home built and allocated to a family under the Public Housing Improvement Program, and it’s great to know we’ll be seeing more of these outcomes in the months ahead.
“As the building and construction industry face challenges from higher costs and interest rates, government contracts help to keep skilled people employed and put a roof over the heads of people who need it most,” she said.
Eighty-one PHIP homes have already been completed or under construction across the state including in Salisbury, St Mary’s, Parafield, Elizabeth, North Plympton and Croydon Park and regionally in Mount Barker, Mount Gambier and Murray Bridge. The first of these homes was finished in May, with more due being completed every month.
Under the PHIP, 350 vacant properties in need of major updates are being upgraded, and an intensive maintenance blitz to improve the condition of a further 3000 properties is well underway.
“We’re proud to be working with great companies to build these houses for people who need them,” said SA Housing Presiding Member, Mary Patetsos AM.
“It’s the aim of the Authority to ensure that South Australians have access to safe, affordable housing.”
