Roger Jaensch,Minister for Housing
The Tasmanian Government is continuing to invest in housing right across the State to help Tasmanians in need and ensure they have access to safe and secure accommodation.
This includes the significant progress that has been made in delivering upgrades to Tasmania’s housing stock, with Housing Tasmania delivering an additional $5 million worth of maintenance and upgrades in the last quarter of the 2019-20 financial year, on top of the regular maintenance program
This investment forms part of our $70 million stimulus program for the maintenance of public assets and is not only delivering better quality public housing for Tasmanians but is also supporting jobs and our economy when Tasmania needs it most as we continue to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.
External works include upgrading gutters, fences, sheds, windows and CCTV to keep people safe, with internal works also progressed to upgrade kitchens, bathrooms, internal paint and new stoves.
Importantly, the investment has been spread right around the state with $1.17 million in the North, $1.51 million in the North West and $2.36 million in the South, allowing a number of businesses to benefit from the increased work.
It follows five years of delivering upgrades and maintenance to Tasmania’s public housing, and will continue with another $6.3 million of additional funds allocated to do further upgrades over the next 18 months.
This comes after the Labor-Green Government left a $90 million maintenance backlog bill when we came to Government in 2014, and is on top our record investment into affordable housing that is delivering thousands of new homes for Tasmanians that need them.
