Albanese government’s $2 billion Social Housing Fund Accelerator to provide $50 million to Tasmania
A newly announced one-off investment by the federal government will see Tasmania receive $50 million to boost the state’s housing stock. When Tassie is set to receive the funds >
Tasmania
Don't miss out on the headlines from Tasmania. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Tasmania will receive $50m from the federal government to boost social housing stock, with the one-off payment to be delivered within the next two weeks.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced the $2 billion Social Housing Fund Accelerator in a speech to the Victorian Labor conference on Saturday.
The investment will see funding allocated to states and territories on a per capita basis. It’s projected to facilitate the construction of thousands of new social housing dwellings across the country.
States and territories will be required to commit the funding to projects by June 30, 2025 and will have flexibility in terms of how they choose to use the money, such as through new builds, expansion of existing social housing programs and renovation or refurbishment of existing but currently uninhabitable stock.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the aim of the investment was to “immediately” boost social housing supply.
“We know Tasmanians want practical solutions, and we’ll work with the state government to get on with the job of delivering more social housing,” he said.
“This is real dollars, driving real change and building more homes for Australians.”
Housing Minister Julie Collins said the funding would “help build more of the rental homes that we know Tasmania needs”.
Premier Jeremy Rockliff said the payment would help the Tasmanian government deliver on its plan to build 10,000 new social and affordable homes by 2032.
“At national cabinet [on Friday], we were able to get our fair share of the new $2 billion Social Housing Accelerator announced yesterday by the Prime Minister,” Mr Rockliff said.
“In fact, Tasmania will receive $50 million over two years, which is above a per capita proportion of funds, and will assist us to continue to increase supply and deliver homes for those who need them most.”
There were 4500 applicants languishing on Tasmania’s social and government housing waiting list as at March 2023.
The federal government is currently trying to secure passage of its proposed $10b Housing Australia Future Fund through the Senate but is facing significant resistance from the Greens, who have said the fund would not guarantee the construction of a single house.
Returns from the fund would be used to build 30,000 social and affordable homes over five years.
Jacqui Lambie Network senator Tammy Tyrrell recently brokered a deal with the federal government to guarantee that a minimum of 1200 homes would be built in Tasmania under the Housing Australia Future Fund.
She described the new social housing funding as “welcome news for Tassie”.
“Now [Tasmanian Greens] senators Nick McKim and Peter Whish-Wilson need to stop dragging their feet and vote for the Housing Australia Future Fund bill next week,” she said.
Under the Albanese government’s National Housing Accord – an agreement between all levels of government, investors, and the construction industry to commit greater effort to tackling the country’s housing shortage – there is a target to build one million new well-located homes across the nation over five years from 2024.
More Coverage
Originally published as Albanese government’s $2 billion Social Housing Fund Accelerator to provide $50 million to Tasmania
Council attitude to Hobart homeless “hostile”, activists say
A group of activists say the City of Hobart has been “hostile” towards homeless people, at a time when many are doing it tough. Here’s why they removed fencing around heritage trees.
Peking Duk announce surprise Hobart show
It is a bit of a risk announcing a show only a few weeks out, but that does not matter when you are Peking Duk. Where and when the electronic duo are playing.