22/01/2024
Oaklands Green proposed building site - L to R: Trevor Cooke, Chair HRA OP and Deputy Chair Junction; Matt Clemow, Development Manager Oaklands Green; Mary Patetsos AM, Presiding Member of the South Australian Housing Trust Board; Nick Symons, Director Financial Services, SA Housing Authority

Oaklands Green in landmark social housing regeneration project

South Australia’s largest social housing regeneration project in two decades has commenced at Oaklands Park. Led by South Australian developer Housing Renewal Australia Oaklands Park (HRA OP), the Oaklands Park Renewal Project will transform a 16.5-hectare site (165,175m2) between Barry Road, Bombay and Doreen Streets adjacent the electrified Noarlunga Train Line.

To be known as ‘Oaklands Green’, the new community will include 235 new social housing homes, built for the SA Housing Authority as turn-key solutions to be managed by community housing provider, Junction. Rivergum Homes has now commenced construction of the first 48 of these one and two-storey dwellings.

There are 13 two-bedroom social housing dwellings in these first stages. An additional 20 public houses funded by HRA OP will be built as part of the partnership arrangements.

In addition, more than 450 market-ready homes will be built on the site, unlocking critical land and housing supply for South Australians. At least 15% of these will be sold through the State Government’s HomeSeeker initiative at an affordable housing price point.

The site has previously been home to more than 250 SA Housing Authority houses built in the 1950s.The economic return from this market-ready housing is allowing for the largest renewal of the Authority’s assets at no capital cost to the State Government, creating what is believed to be Australia’s first social housing project to be led by private funds with a not-for-profit partner in Junction.

The resulting development will be the largest consolidated housing renewal project since Westwood in the early 2000s and represents an innovative partnership between SAHA, Junction and Housing Renewal Australia (Oaklands Park).

The master-planned project utilises existing civil infrastructure to underpin $200 million in construction and will resize and redevelop the previous blocks using a mix of modern and sustainable housing options. Social housing options will include apartments and detached dwellings, providing choice and better meeting the needs of a range of customers from singles to families.

The project will be staged over eight years, with sales of the first three stages underway.