Casino part of $26M project for ‘better’ social housing

The pilot project aims to provide modern, sustainable, medium density social housing.

The Land and Housing Corporation is building new homes in Casino as part of the pilot Medium Density Housing Program.

A $26 million social housing pilot program aims to deliver modern and sustainable homes in short time frames.

And two of the new homes will be built in Casino, with work to get under way in the near future.

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Land and Housing Corporation chief executive, Mick Cassel, said the pilot Medium Density Housing Program would see 100 new social homes built across NSW, creating about 130 jobs.

In Casino, a two-storey dual occupancy development ‒ two attached homes both with two bedrooms ‒ is currently in the final stages of approval.

Work is expected to start on site in the next two of weeks and completion is expected by June 2021.

"As well as Casino, LAHC is also piloting another project in South Grafton," a spokesperson from LAHC said.

"These four homes form part of the 60 new homes being built throughout regional NSW under the Medium Density Housing Program; representing 60 per cent of the 100 homes being delivered in total."

The pilot program is making use of the Low-Rise Housing Diversity Code, which Mr Cassel said had been developed to support "well-designed and sustainable homes that respond appropriately to the character of the area, landscape setting and surrounding built form".

"Using the Code means we don't need to seek site-specific development application approvals and therefore slash anywhere between two to six months from the job of delivering new housing," he said.

"These homes look and appear just like other low-density homes that are found in local residential areas and will blend in seamlessly with surrounding local communities."

Housing Industry Association executive director, David Bare, said his organisation supported the pilot as it showcased the type and quality of low-rise, medium-density housing product that can be efficiently delivered by mainstream builders, using the Code.

"We need more housing in this sector and hope that this pilot will be the precursor to the delivery of many hundreds more of new social housing dwellings and jobs," he said.

This initiative forms part of the government's Future Directions for Social Housing.

It aims a to build more and better social housing that blends in with local communities.