$12M boost for affordable housing
Labor HQ
posted Wednesday, 16 December 2009
Tanya Plibersek
The Australian and Tasmanian
Governments today announced that Centacare Tasmania will receive a $12 million
funding package which will see 78 new housing units built across
Tasmania.
The Minister for Human Services, Lin
Thorp said Centacare would receive the largest funding package to be awarded for
social housing to a not-for-profit organisation under the Nation Building
Economic Stimulus Plan in
Tasmania.
"I am pleased to see a
not-for-profit organisation receive this substantial injection of funds to
improve their ability to provide much needed housing to Tasmanians," Ms Thorp
said.
"This exciting partnership will help
Tasmanians currently on Housing Tasmania's waiting list and is about getting a
roof over people's heads."
Fifty-five new two bedroom units
have been funded under the Rudd Government's Nation Building Economic Stimulus
Plan.
The leveraging of this investment
will mean that Centacare Tasmania can finance the remaining 23 units, with
properties being built at
Riverside, Ravenswood
and St Leonards in northern
Tasmania.
These properties will be managed by
Centacare
Tasmania and will be made available for people
currently on the Housing Tasmania waiting list.
Centacare
Tasmania currently
provides a number of support services for Tasmanians, including Private Rental
Tenancy Support Service and Centacare Tenancy Support
Services.
"This project notably increases the
capacity for Centacare
Tasmania to help Tasmanians in need of housing
assistance," Federal Minister for Housing Tanya Plibersek said.
"These properties will be designed
to ensure they are more accessible to people who are ageing or living with
disabilities.
"Each of the 55 units also will be
designed to achieve a minimum 6 star energy efficiency
rating."
Ms Plibersek said the Nation
Building Economic Stimulus Plan will see 512 new social housing properties
delivered across
Tasmania.
"The Rudd Government put in place
economic stimulus to protect jobs during the global recession. We will continue
to support local jobs in the construction industry as demand in the private
sector begins to pick up during the recovery," Ms Plibersek said.