10,000 Social and Affordable Homes for Tasmanians

QUICK FACTS
  • 10,000 new social and affordable homes by 2032
  • $1.5 billion investment pipeline
  • An extra 732 affordable and social homes in the pipeline right now
  • 2000 extra social homes by 30 June 2027
  • Up to 100 Rapid Rehousing homes for women and children escaping family violence
  • Additional 200 affordable private rentals through boosted Private Rental Incentive Scheme
  • Key Development Coaches in our Safe Spaces, providing personal help to those in the 88 beds offered every night
  • Support and wrap-around funding for newly constructed homes for Jirah House and McCombe House
  • Progressing $42 million Showgrounds housing project to secure 450 new homes
  • Housing Connect reforms to tailor support for Tasmanians
  • Two new Wintringham supported accommodation facilities in North and North-West
  • $16 million partnership for energy efficiency measures in social housing properties
  • Increase maintenance budget for social housing

Under our 2030 Strong Plan for Tasmania’s Future, a re-elected majority Liberal Government will:

  • Deliver 10,000 more social and affordable homes by 2032.
  • Set a new 'social housing only' target of 2000 more homes by 30 June 2027.
  • Deliver up to 100 more homes for women and children escaping family violence.
  • Unlock more affordable rentals by boosting our Private Rental Incentive Scheme, with an additional 200 homes.
  • Establish Key Development Coaches in Safe Space facilities in each region.
  • Support women and children at risk of, or experiencing homelessness.
  • Deliver energy efficiency in social housing.
  • Provide increased funding to Shelter Tasmania.
  • Deliver more funding for social housing maintenance and upgrades.

An important part of our 2030 Strong Plan for Tasmania's future is to lock in Tasmania’s position as the best place to live, work and raise a family in the nation.

We’re building a record number of new houses – 3000 delivered in the last four years, but for many Tasmanians, their first home lies beyond reach, and rental prices are still too high.

A re-elected majority Liberal Government will continue our strong social and affordable housing agenda to build more than 10,000 new social and affordable homes by 2032 under our $1.5 billion plan.

We have established Homes Tasmania to build opportunities for Tasmanians by working with industry, the private sector and the social housing and homelessness sector to get more homes built more quickly than ever before for those in need.

Delivering 10,000 social and affordable homes by 2032

In 2020, the Liberal Government committed to delivering 10,000 more social and affordable homes for Tasmanians in need, backed by an investment of $1.5 billion. This is the largest investment in social and affordable housing in Tasmania’s history.

Our record investment has already seen more than 3,000 social and affordable homes delivered since October 2020, moving towards our goal of 10,000. In fact, Homes Tasmania and its partners delivered one-quarter of all residential building approvals in Tasmania in 2022-23.

In the past 12 months, 630 long-term social homes were delivered through Homes Tasmania and its community housing partners. That means, on average, almost two social homes were delivered each day over the past year.

At the end of November 2023, there were an additional 732 affordable and social homes in the Homes Tasmania pipeline, either under construction or in the planning stages.

A re-elected majority Liberal Government will deliver a ‘social-housing-only’ target of at least 2,000 more social homes by 30 June 2027, as specified in our first Tasmanian Housing Strategy Action Plan 2023-2027.And we will achieve that.

Up to 100 more Rapid Rehousing homes for women and children escaping family violence

Rapid rehousing provides housing assistance to people escaping family violence, providing transitional accommodation with leases up to 12 months at subsidised rent, until able to transition to independent living.

A re-elected majority Liberal Government will provide funding to deliver up to an additional 100 homes to the Rapid Rehousing stock, providing more homes for women and children escaping family violence.

Unlock more affordable rentals by boosting our Private Rental Incentive Scheme, with an additional 200 homes

The Private Rental Incentive Scheme is an innovative program providing stable and affordable housing.It incentivises landlords to make their properties available at affordable rents, bringing properties into the market that otherwise would not be available to people on lower incomes.

A re-elected majority Liberal Government will boost the Scheme to assist an additional 200 homes - for a total of 500 Tasmanian households.

Under this scheme, rents are capped at between 25 to 30 cent below median rates and in return, property owners receive an incentive payment, and are guaranteed rental income for a two-year lease.

Securing Key Development coaches in our Safe Space facilities in each region

The Tasmanian Liberal Government introduced Safe Space homeless shelters in 2019, starting in Hobart and then expanding to Launceston and Burnie in 2020.

Safe Spaces is crisis accommodation for homeless Tasmanians - a warm bed, a hot meal and personal safety.Liberal funding for Safe Spaces is now an ongoing program delivering 88 beds every night, seven days a week.

A re-elected majority Liberal Government will establish Key Development Coaches at each Safe Space site in three regions to provide intensive support to help clients at Safe Spaces to overcome trauma and other barriers that can get in the way of finding and keeping a home.Funding will be provided for two years at $450,000 a year.

More funding to support women at Jireh House and McCombe House

The Tasmanian Liberal Government provided capital funding through the Safe Place Program to deliver two new three-bedroom homes at Jireh House and three two-bedroom units and three three-bedroom units at McCombe House.

A re-elected Government will provide additional funding for support workers and wrap around services to this much-needed crisis accommodation for two years.

Projects now underway to address homelessness, provide more supported accommodation and deliver energy efficiency in social housing

As well as delivering the 700 homes now under construction in our pipeline of social and affordable homes, a re-elected majority Liberal Government will:

  • Continue the Glenorchy Showgrounds housing project.The Government has provided more than $42 million to support infrastructure works at the Showgrounds and progress project design and planning to secure 450 new homes and activate 400 direct and indirect jobs in the construction industry.
  • Deliver the Housing Connect reform, and implementation of a Housing First approach. Housing Connect is being redesigned so Tasmanians seeking assistance receive more personalised support tailored to their age, stage of life and key life transition points.
    Homes Tasmania will better address primary homelessness by developing a Housing First approach.
  • Continue funding high-quality supported accommodation facilities for Tasmanians aged over 55 with $20 million provided in the 2023-24 Budget to deliver two supported accommodation facilities in the north and north-west, managed by Wintringham.
  • Continue to roll out energy efficiency measures in social housing properties to provide cost of living savings, in partnership with the Australian Government. A shared commitment of $16 million has been provided.This will provide updated hot water systems, PVC windows, stove replacements, insulation and heating systems. Homes Tasmania and its community partners have invested more than $300 million in upgrading and maintaining social housing from July 2014 to June 2023.

Provide increased funding to Shelter Tasmania

Shelter Tasmania is the peak body for housing and homelessness, ensuring organisations that provide services to our most vulnerable are heard and supported.

A re-elected majority Liberal Government will provide an uplift in funding for the peak body, Shelter Tasmania, by $250,000 a year over the next four years, in recognition of its work in partnership with government in delivering the 20-year Housing Strategy and continued expert policy advice to government.

More funding for maintenance and upgrades of social housing properties

The former Labor-Green Government left a $90 million maintenance backlog in 2014 when they lost office. Since then, the Liberal Government has invested more than $300 million in social housing maintenance from July 2014 to June 2023.

A re-elected majority Liberal Government will provide an additional $20 million over the next four years - over and above the existing investment on maintenance.

Increased housing across the spectrum

A re-elected majority Liberal Government will tackle all parts of the housing supply chain, including helping more Tasmanians in their first home and putting downward pressure on the availability of rental properties for the private market.

This includes:

  • Abolishing stamp duty for first home buyers of properties up to $750,000.
  • Delivering a new $35 million Homes Faster! Partnership Incentive fund to stimulate supply over the next two years.
  • Cutting stamp duty in half when Tasmanians buy a new apartment or unit off the plan up to $750,000 for two years.
  • Unlocking more residential lots with an increase in our residential land rebate.
  • A $10,000 per unit incentive for developers with up to 50 units, to get more new infill medium or high density units built.
  • Providing short-term interest-free loans up to $1 million for medium density units and apartments to assist with early headworks charges.
  • Boosting the existing residential land rebate program, offering a rebate of actual costs incurred up to a total of $15,000 per lot up to a maximum of 40 lots.
  • Providing immediate incentives to bring forward several larger residential apartment developments by Homes Tasmania, guaranteeing the purchase of 10 per cent of units off the plan to be managed as affordable rentals from at least one approved project in the South, North and North West.
  • Working with local councils to secure finance while providing 40 per cent Homes Tasmania equity to key worker homes on agreed council land.
  • Increasing MyHome maximum shared equitiy from $200,000 to $300,000 and lift the income limits by 25 per cent for co-owners to qualify for new construction from $107,580 to $134,475.
  • Providing a 100 per cent land tax incentive for property owners who build to rent, or switch a short stay home to long-term rental.
  • Applying a five per cent short stay levy, with 100 per cent going to help Tasmanians buy their first home.

We are also changing the law to allow renters to keep a pet, meaning landlords will not be permitted to unreasonably reject applications from prospective tenants on the basis that they'll be accompanied by a pet.

Our 2030 Strong Plans for housing can be found at www.tas.liberal.org.au/our-policies

What we've delivered in recent years

  • Developed a 20-year Housing Strategy – a blueprint to guide the types of houses needed, and where these homes should be built.
  • Delivered more than 3000 social and affordable homes in four years compared to 1500 homes over the last four years of the Labor-Green government (2010-2014)
  • Secured an historic agreement with the Australian Government to waive the State’s $157 million housing debt.
  • Established the Private Rental Incentive Program, helping hundreds more households into affordable rental homes.
  • Delivered Safe Space homeless shelters in all three regions of the State.
  • Introduced the MyHome program, which has provided more than 300 low-income Tasmanians the chance to buy their own home, and lowered deposits to two per cent.
  • Stamp duty concessions for first home buyers and pensioners downsizing.
  • Boosted housing supply with the Residential Land Rebate program.
  • Significantly increased the investment into Specialist Homelessness Services, now $48 million a year.
  • Near doubled the capacity of the Launceston Women’s Shelter (15 additional units).
  • Expanded Youth2Independence in Launceston’s Thyne House (20 additional beds).
  • Built new Y21 youth supported accommodation in Hobart (26 units) and Burnie (25 units).
  • Expanded Y21 program to include 20 clustered homes and 10 share homes statewide.
  • Built the Devonport Men’s Shelter (additional seven beds).
  • Built the new Bethlehem House in Hobart (50 beds).
  • Expanded Jireh House for women and children in Hobart (three additional units).
  • Expanding McCombe House for women and children in Hobart (six additional units).
  • Built three new units for the Hobart Women’s Shelter.
  • $4 million over six years for the Build UP Tassie program to support young people aged between 16 and 24 to enter the construction industry and gain skills for life.

Net Cost: $4.9 million and $20 million capital infrastructure

Some policies are costed elsewhere