The Malinauskas Labor government has introduced a range of measures, as part of its A Better Housing Future plan, to address housing shortages in regional South Australia.
One initiative is the Regional Key Worker Housing Scheme, which aims to create a continuous pipeline of housing supply as well as facilitate the delivery of housing to attract and retain police, teachers, and healthcare workers in key country areas.
A pilot program will soon be launched to build around 30 homes for these key services across the Copper Coast, Riverland, Mount Gambier, Port Augusta, and Ceduna. The houses may then be sold to private investors under long-term lease arrangements, to help take some of the pressure off the private rental market.
After the delivery of the pilot program, there is scope for it to be expanded to other regions and be available to organisations looking to secure long-term access to new, fit-for-purpose housing for their workers.
“We have a housing crisis in Adelaide, but in many parts of regional South Australia, rental vacancy rates are even tighter,” Premier Peter Malinauskas said. “And that makes it even tougher for those communities to get the people and the skills they need to thrive. Not every country town has the same needs.
“This important work will be done in collaboration with each of these regional communities to ensure these measures are being rolled out in a sustainable way to address these individual needs into the long term.”
The newly established Office for Regional Housing, which will sit within Renewal SA, will run the scheme, coordinating with local councils, regional businesses, builders, and investors. The office will also help facilitate other housing projects across the state.
The SA government also amended the Planning, Development and Infrastructure (General) Regulations 2017 to cut the red tape associated with constructing or placing a temporary structure for housing key workers.
This empowers the minister of planning to designate broader kinds of work to be included in the regulation, such as work associated with constructing replacement dwellings for those affected by the recent Riverland floods.
What do you think about these measures to address housing shortages in SA? We’d love to hear from you in the comments below.
