CORONAVIRUS —
SOCIAL HOUSING ECONOMIC RECOVERY PACKAGE
626. Hon COLIN HOLT to the minister representing the
Minister for Housing:
I refer to the social housing
economic recovery package to build or buy about 250 social housing and
off-the-plan dwellings.
(1) Of the 250
new social houses, how many will be in regional WA; and, will the minister
please provide a breakdown by region?
(2) Are community
housing providers eligible to apply for any of these funds or the previous $150
million housing investment package that was announced in December 2019?
(3) If no to (2), will the minister build flexibility
into the criteria to allow for community housing groups to apply?
(4) If no to (2),
what plans are in place to provide stimulus to community housing providers?
Hon STEPHEN DAWSON
replied:
I thank the honourable member for
some notice of the question. The following answer has been provided to me by
the Minister for Housing.
(1) Of the
approximately 250 new builds and off-the-plan construction-ready purchases
across metropolitan and regional areas as
part of the social housing economic recovery package announced by the Premier
on 7 June 2020, it is intended that approximately 30 per cent of new
builds will be in regional Western Australia. Land asset identification and
allocation is underway and the final quantum and specific location of the sites
by region will be determined over the coming months.
(2) For the
social housing economic recovery package, the Department of Communities will
work with the community housing sector to identify opportunities for
collaboration in delivering new social housing, as well as refurbishing and
maintaining existing social housing stock.
The housing and homelessness
investment package, which was announced on 3 December 2019, will provide more
social and affordable housing for people on low-to-moderate incomes or those
who are at risk of homelessness, while also supporting the WA economy and the
important housing construction industry. This package does not include
opportunities for the community housing sector.
(3)–(4) Not applicable.