Housing Minister Roger Jaensch spruiks new home building figures

Housing Minister Roger Jaensch says the government has exceeded its target for new social housing dwellings.

Housing Minister Roger Jaensch in his offices. Picture: RICHARD JUPE

HOUSING Minister Roger Jaensch says the Government has built 444 new social housing dwellings since 2015 — 72 more than its own target.

Mr Jaensch will on Saturday announce the completion of the homes, all of which have their certificate of occupancy. The vast majority are already tenanted.

More than 49 per cent of the homes are in the South, with 19.7 per cent in the North and 30.8 per cent in the North-West.

“To date, we have now built 444 new social houses for Tasmanians in need, 72 more than we had forecast,” Mr Jaensch said.

“We recognise that there are many Tasmanians currently experiencing housing stress, and these 444 additional social houses go a long way to address demand pressures.

“Importantly, these 444 new social houses form only part of our multifaceted plan to tackle housing stress and homelessness, with other elements including helping families into the private rental market, releasing affordable land for people to build houses, and providing more crisis accommodation options.”

The minister’s office on Friday was unable to detail the net increase in social dwellings since 2015.

Budget estimates heard there had been a net increase of 43 homes in the 12 months to the end of May this year.

An emergency homelessness meeting was held between all tiers of government earlier this month.

“The reporting quarter closes out on Sunday, and we will finalise and update any additional number of houses as part of our final report,” Mr Jaensch said.

“We know there is still more to do, and the Hodgman Liberal Government is investing $125 million into stage two of our Affordable Housing Strategy, taking our total investment to almost $200 million over eight years — the largest ever investment into affordable housing in Tasmania’s history.”