Cheap housing Tasmania: $30m+ pipeline of youth housing

The State Government has revealed the timeline for four major youth housing projects, including crisis and transitional accommodation. SEE WHERE >>

The state government has revealed the timeline for four youth housing projects, one of them crisis and transitional accommodation for at-risk youth, worth combined more than $30m

Housing Minister Michael Ferguson said three Youth2Independence (Y2I) facilities, in Launceston, Burnie and Hobart, were at various stages of planning and construction.

Once complete, the three projects will offer an additional 71 units for young Tasmanians.

Y2I facilities are typically co-located near other educational institutions and include integrated education and employment options while helping to develop young people’s independent living skills.

Mr Ferguson said the first new project, scheduled to come online by the end of this year, was an $8.9m, 20-bed expansion to Thyne House in Launceston, taking its total capacity to 50 residents.

Render of the new Youth2Independence (Y2I) facility in Burnie. Picture: Supplied

A second Y2I facility in Hobart, joining the existing Trinity Hill service, is under construction on Campbell St, next to the TasTAFE campus.

The new $13.5m facility, which will provide 26 units, is expected to be complete by June next year, Mr Ferguson said.

Meanwhile, the tender for construction of a new Burnie Y2I facility, to be located at Mooreville Rd next to the TasTAFE campus and Hellyer College, closes on April 27, with construction due to begin in June.

The expected completion date for this 25-unit facility is in July next year, with the cost of delivery to be determined under the tender process.

Meanwhile, construction is also underway on a new crisis and transitional accommodation facility for at-risk youths aged 13–20 in Burnie.

The new site will have eight one-bedroom crisis accommodation units, with kitchen, dining, lounge, gym, laundry, recreation and outdoor areas, along with a reception, office, consulting and interview rooms, and a self-contained staff residence.

This will be co-located with a longer-term transitional accommodation facility with 15 self-contained one-bedroom units with gym, storage and outdoor recreation areas and consulting rooms.

The $8m project, which is expected to be completed in early 2023, will provide an integrated learning and accommodation setting for young people who are experiencing or are at risk of experiencing homelessness or who are exiting out-of-home care.

It will replace the current outdated eight-unit building and a number of transitional units dispersed in the community with a new purpose-built facility to improve service delivery and capacity.