Blair Athol rejuvenation adds more public and affordable homes to our stock
SA Housing Authority is progressing well with development of the master-planned community, part of the Blair Athol Neighbourhood Renewal Initiative. 70 new public housing rental homes are being built under the Authority's direction as well as almost 100 affordable homes for purchase. Additional public housing in Blair Athol was funded from the $232.7 million Public Housing Improvement Program (PHIP) that will deliver 437 new homes.
All civil works for the first three stages facilitating 30 new public housing builds have been completed. The new public housing builds will be handed over progressively from early 2024 with all remaining civil works in the final two stages to be completed by December 2024. Buyers will have a great opportunity to purchase an affordable home in the development with 95 newly constructed affordable homes to be offered for sale during the next 12 months.
Progress on Public Housing Improvement Program
We are focussed on increasing the availability of public housing and our Public Housing Improvement Program is key. We recently released details of how PHIP is being planned. A total of $474.7 million is being invested in a comprehensive suite of measures to deliver more social housing and affordable homes to South Australians. This investment will support the delivery of 3,600 new homes over five years. The PHIP projects will be spread across 48 suburbs and regions across South Australia.
HomeSeeker SA sales booming
Affordable homes are a key solution to address housing supply. We’re seeing sales of affordable homes through HomeSeeker SA increase by more than 100%, in part due to the SA Housing Authority's Affordable Home Initiative, which is delivering 1000 affordable homes over five years.
Here's a sneak-peek at one of our latest development in Woodville Gardens, with thanks to our contracted builders, Bradford Projects by Scott Salisbury. In Woodville Gardens, construction is advancing rapidly on 89 new affordable homes across five sites. Over 20 affordable homes are currently available on HomeSeeker SA in the suburb alone, with a further 10 new listings to be released soon. These modern homes are priced well below the suburb’s median price of $665,000. These quality affordable homes are listed exclusively for eligible buyers on the SA Housing Authority's HomeSeeker SA website to ensure people on lower incomes are not competing with other buyers, such as investors, to purchase a home.
Construction commences on rental homes for affected women and children
Construction of 24 affordable long-term rental homes for women and children at risk of homelessness due to family and domestic violence has commenced in the heart of Adelaide. The $15.7 million apartment development for women and women-led families is the first in South Australia to be developed by YWCA Australia. We at SA Housing Authority is proud to support a project that will help many people and families achieve a life of safety and housing security.
These safe, secure, and affordable apartments are due for completion in 2025 and will be made available for eligible women and their children at below market rent.
Southern Homelessness Round Table
We were pleased to participate in the Southern Homelessness Round Table 2023 in September, organised by the City of Onkaparinga, South Australian Alliance to End Homelessness(SAAEH), and Toward Home Alliance. * Our Director for Strategic Advice, Peter Sandeman AM was the MC for the event and our Project Officer for Homelessness Sector, Robb Smart presented data on socio-economic disadvantage, homelessness, and housing availability across the Onkaparinga LGA. There were great discussions with roundtables considering what will make a big difference to those experiencing homelessness and how services services can prevent, divert, and reduce homelessness in the coming years.
National Housing Conference 2023
The National Housing Conference, Australia's key housing event, was this year held in Brisbane, aimed at addressing difficulties and finding solutions for the future of housing in Australia. This was such an important event for some of our team to meet with other Government agencies and service providers to explore and cement our strategies to increase supply and support tenants and communities.
* Our Director, Joe Noone, presented on the topic ‘Climate change and its impact on the rising energy cost in housing’. He also shared some of the best/ benchmarking practices that we have adopted while building our homes to ensure energy efficiency is achieved.
Our apprentice wins Building Excellence Awards 2023
One of our successful apprentices, Guiliano Centofanti, won the coveted 'Apprentice of the Year' award by the Master Builders Association (MBA). MBA's awards program is one of the oldest and highly recognised awards program that recognises excellence in construction, workmanship, innovation and dedication to the industry.
Guiliano is part of the 250 Apprenticeships Pilot Program that was launched by us earlier this year which received an overwhelming response. The judges were impressed with his genuine love and passion for the building industry and takes pride in his involvement in building someone a home, contributing to the community in building a school and more.
