Roger Jaensch,Minister for Housing
The Tasmanian Government is investing in vital upgrades for our public housing stock that will ease the cost of living pressures for tenants, reduce emissions, and create jobs right around the State.
In the last few months of the 2019-20 financial year, Housing Tasmania delivered $4.8 million of works on public housing dwellings, as part of the COVID-19 public building maintenance fund,
Not only did this support local businesses, trades and sub-contractors, it allowed us to fast track upgrades to key projects, with $1.2 million spent in the North, $1.5 million in the North West, and just over $2 million in the South.
Of this, over $1 million was spent on upgrading kitchens and bathrooms and another $1 million was spent on fences, cladding and external landscaping.
Other works included window replacements, lighting upgrades, CCTV, painting and tree removals.
Importantly, these works were able to happen quickly and delivered good outcomes for tenants while supporting Tasmanian jobs during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Since coming to Government, we have increased the percentage of public houses with efficient heat pumps from 17 per cent to 74 per cent, which is a fantastic result for all involved.
We are continuing the momentum with the 2020-21 State Budget allocating $15 million to public housing heating and energy efficiency initiatives.
This includes fast tracking the installation of heat pumps to the remaining 26 per cent of public housing dwellings over the next 18 months, and commencing a program of replacing old hot water cylinders with reverse cycle systems.
This means more jobs for Tasmanians, and lower power bills for public housing tenants.
