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Legislative Council - Fifty-Fourth Parliament, Second Session (54-2)
2020-03-03 Daily Xml
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Housing Affordability

The Hon. J.S. LEE (14:44): My question is to the Minister for Human Services about the government's new housing strategy. Can the minister please provide an update to the council about the Marshall Liberal government's strategy for improving housing outcomes for South Australians and supporting the building industry?

The Hon. J.M.A. LENSINK (Minister for Human Services) (14:44): I thank the honourable member for her question and her interest in this area. As honourable members would recall, the housing strategy was released in December last year following on from a package agreed to as part of the land tax arrangements extracted from us by the hefty negotiations of the Greens.

What we have is a comprehensive strategy that will deliver a range of affordable housing options for South Australians. That includes capital programs for a thousand affordable homes, a neighbourhood renewal program, a range of supports in terms of HomeStart finance, preventive maintenance programs that are in addition to the budget announcement for 2019-20, and the Homelessness Prevention Fund, all of which will work towards assisting South Australians to achieve their dream of affordable housing.

The strategy provides a pathway over the next 10 years and will go a long way towards assisting South Australians who, we have identified through our partners and talking to the people of South Australia, are looking for affordable housing options. The neighbourhood renewal program is some $54 million, looking at a range of areas including Felixstow, Kidman Park and, I think, Woodville Gardens. The capital maintenance is an additional $75 million, and we also have the thousand affordable homes program.

Very recently, we have been able to release an expression of interest, which is the first part of these particular programs, at Dover Gardens. On 18 February, the South Australian Housing Authority released an expression of interest to the private sector to seek a partner to redevelop an existing site at Quintus Terrace at Dover Gardens. Some of those properties have been vacant for some time, as it has been an area that has become somewhat notorious. A number of the residents have been relocated to other locations while we work on the redevelopment plans.

We have certain places within South Australia, within the Housing Authority, that do need a lot of work. I have spoken previously about the walk-up flats program that was funded in the budget, and the upgrade of those walk-up flats is taking place as we speak. I'm looking forward to further announcements for additional sites where we will be redeveloping those properties into a range of new properties.

The building industry has welcomed the program within the Housing Authority. As we know, there have been some businesses in South Australia that have gone under, and they are certainly welcoming the addition of some new opportunities for the building industry. As part of that we are also looking for apprenticeship and traineeship opportunities. I look forward to announcing those further as time progresses.

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