State Government announces millions for Housing Trust upgrades in three blue-chip suburbs
Run-down Housing Trust blocks in three of Adelaide’s higher end suburbs will finally see millions of dollars worth of renovations and upgrades from the State Government.
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- The Housing Trust units they call “Hell”
Three rundown Housing Trust unit blocks in some of Adelaide’s blue-ribbon suburbs will be upgraded at a cost of $10 million.
The worst, Mellor Court at Gilberton, has been the source of constant complaints from neighbours and is nicknamed “Hellor”, with many of the tenants on home detention or having just been released from jail.
The others, Yeomans Court at Henley Beach South and Bonython Court at Hawthorn, have been high on the list of those needing repair for years, part of a total $21 million announced in this year’s State Budget.
Minister for Human Services Michelle Lensink said the funding was in addition to the annual Housing Trust maintenance budget of $100 million.
“The Liberal Government’s extensive maintenance program across these three sites is a long time coming and there is no doubt the work will be welcomed by our public housing tenants who live in these properties,” she said.
“The maintenance work will be done in various stages, starting with general maintenance and rubbish removal.’’
The three blocks of 198 units in total were built in the 1950s and 1960s and “Hellor” in 2011 was reportedly home to what residents described as a self-styled drug-dealing “sheriff” and a posse of enforcers who terrorised and extorted money from others.
At Bonython Court in Hawthorn, residents were desperate to leave after three violent knife attacks in 2018.
Yeomans Court has been relatively trouble-free.
The grounds of the sites are so bad that a large sum of money has been dedicated to rubbish removal alone.
Ms Lensink said tenders would go out today for the work.
“This will be followed by external work, improved lighting and landscaping and the work will also include the removal of old asbestos roofing,’’ she said.
“Not only will this upgrade work benefit our public housing tenants, our $21.1 million commitment will provide a boost to our local building and maintenance industry.”
Another priority is the removal of the asbestos roofing which nearby residents are concerned about, to be followed by external repairs, improved lighting and landscaping.
“The Liberal Government inherited 34,000 homes, many of which are rundown and in chronic condition, with backlog maintenance into the tens of millions of dollars,” Ms Lensink said.
“The former Labor Government sold about $1.5 billion worth of Housing SA properties over 15 years, which equates to about 7500 properties.
“After 16 years of mismanagement of this portfolio, our public housing system will not be fixed overnight.”
Further sites for improvement are currently being identified.
The three sites have multiple floors, and residents in the top floors will be temporarily relocated for up to two days until the roof replacement is completed.