Territory Homes plan to boost Labor’s election housing stocks

The Chief Minister will today unveil a new plan she hopes will boost the government’s election housing stocks. Read what it is.

The Territory will have a dedicated, stand-alone housing department if the Lawler Labor government is re-elected.

Chief Minister Eva Lawler will announce at a Property Council breakfast debate on Wednesday a re-elected Labor government would excise the housing component including remote housing from the Department of Territory Families, Housing and Communities.

To be known as Territory Homes, the new department would also take the housing and planning, and private home approvals responsibilities from the Department of Infrastructure, Planning and Logistics.

Territory Homes will look after remote housing.

Ms Lawler said the department would focus on all aspects relating to housing construction including the $4bn Territory remote housing package, with existing employees from both departments to be transferred to Territory Homes.

Ms Lawler will say Territory Homes would collaborate with the construction sector to make “common sense” changes to encourage more building, while retaining strong safeguards for Territory homeowners.

The new department would manage social housing throughout the Territory and the announcement comes with a commitment to ensure tenants are more proactively managed to reduce anti-social behaviour.

The Northern Territory Housing Alliance was established in partnership with the federal government to build 11,000 homes within five years and if re-elected Labor will implement its $60,000 Home Builder Boost.

“This is a commonsense approach to ensure we have more homes built in the Territory more quickly,” Ms Lawler said.

“Territory Homes will streamline processes for the private construction market, while also focusing on delivering social housing in our cities and towns, along with the bush.

“Thousands more homes need to be built in the next few years and a re-elected Lawler Labor government will make the changes needed to make it easier to build new homes right across the Territory.”

The announcement follows the release on Tuesday of June 2024 building approvals by the ABS, which showed a nation high 7.4 per cent increase to 29 in June.

In annual terms residential building approvals in the Territory fell by 21.6 per cent and in 2023-24, residential building approvals in the Territory decreased 38.5 per cent to 362.