The Malinauskas Labor Government's focus on improving regional housing supply for essential workers has reached a key milestone, with work starting on the first houses.
Premier Peter Malinauskas and Minister for Housing and Urban Development Nick Champion were in Port Augusta, to see work beginning on the first of 35 homes to be delivered as part of the Regional Key Worker Housing Scheme.
The four, two-and-three-bedroom homes in Port Augusta are located to the west of Joy Baluch AM Bridge and will be built by Constructwell.
The start of construction represents a significant milestone for both the Office for Regional Housing, run by Renewal SA, and for the residents of Port Augusta, who will now be better served as a community.
The Regional Key Worker Housing Scheme has a specific goal to secure suitable housing in regional areas for essential government workers, such as police officers, teachers and medical professionals.
The program will deliver 35 new regional homes across Port Augusta (4), Mount Gambier (6), Bordertown (5), Renmark (5), Ceduna (6) and the Copper Coast (9) to address the critical need for purpose-built government worker housing.
Over the past year, the Office for Regional Housing has identified areas of critical need, liaised with agencies to assess requirements, acquired land, produced designs and secured builders and development approvals to get these developments started.
It's expected the first houses will be complete in 2025.
As put by Peter Malinauskas
My Government has made addressing the housing crisis a major priority.
We've been releasing record amounts of land, cutting taxes for first homebuyers, reforming planning and rental rules and more.
Through the Office for Regional Housing and the Regional Key Worker Housing Scheme, we're taking real action to make sure we can deliver essential workers such as teachers, police officers, nurses and doctors to parts of our state that desperately need them.
As put by Nick Champion
Today marks an important milestone in our Regional Key Worker Housing scheme, as we aim address the critical housing shortages in regional South Australia.
South Australia's regions are key contributors to the state's prosperity, generating over $30 billion every year in economic activity, yet they are struggling to attract and retain hard working South Australians due to a lack of quality housing.
We are taking meaningful steps to ensure that essential workers have access to safe and quality housing, allowing them to thrive in their professions and contribute to the well-being of our regional communities.
It's taken a lot of work to get to this point so it's exciting to see construction start on the first of 35 new homes and we hope to have the Port Augusta houses ready for essential workers to move in next year.
As put by Linley Shine, Mayor of Port Augusta
The Regional Key Worker Housing Scheme is a welcomed innovation around housing supply, and I'm pleased that Port Augusta has secured four purpose-built houses for our essential government workers.
As we know, Port Augusta is a large regional service hub, and it is vital that we are able to attract and retain essential workers.
With the projected growth for Port Augusta and the region it is imperative that Council continues to work with the State Government around enhancing opportunity across every level of housing as the housing challenges are real.
I applaud the Malinauskas government for their commitment toward our city and look forward to our ongoing collaborative efforts.
