More than 280 modular homes have been delivered across Tasmania under the state government’s ModHomes Program, with another 271 units in the construction pipeline.
Housing and Planning Minister Kerry Vincent visited the Podmatrix factory at Bridgewater today to spruik the program, which builds homes in a warehouse rather than on site.
“Modular construction is an important part of increasing housing supply and getting people into safe, secure and affordable homes sooner,” Vincent said.
He said 13 units were being delivered to Romaine in the north west, with two already installed and the rest to follow in coming weeks.
“Seeing the factory in action is a great example of how we can think differently about housing delivery and importantly, how we can get more homes on the ground faster,” he said.
Vincent said 83% of the housing waitlist required one and two-bedroom homes, a market modular construction catered for perfectly.
He said modular homes also suited people looking to downsize, families wanting to add a dwelling to a large block and first home buyers seeking an affordable entry point.
“It won’t be the cure for everything,” he said.
Podmatrix Director Zach Harris said a two-bedroom unit could be built in eight to 10 weeks, with overall project time cut by three to four months because factory work happens while site preparation is underway.
“It’s really good to use in remote locations or where there might be a lack of trades and suppliers, knowing that we can do 90% of the work out of here in the factory,” Harris said.
He said having all trades and supplies at one location reduced costs and building multiple units at once resulted in a cheaper product.
Master Builders Tasmania executive director Jenna Cairney welcomed the program but said the state was still falling short of National Housing Accord targets by around 50%.
“Doing things the same way as we’ve always done in totality isn’t going to get us there,” Cairney said.
She called for regulatory reform to make it easier to install modular homes, pointing to different rules across council areas and changes already made in New South Wales.
“We’d love to explore that with the Tasmanian government to again decrease that regulatory burden, which makes it faster to get homes out of the ground, which in turn makes it cheaper as well,” she said.
Labor leader Josh Willie said he welcomed new ways of delivering housing in principle but accused the government of failing to address the broader crisis.
“Our housing wait lists have never been worse,” Willie said.
“Housing affordability is a real issue in Tasmania and we’ve got significant challenges right across the housing system, whether it’s planning, whether it’s workforce shortages, whether it’s materials.”
He said many Tasmanians had lost faith in the government’s ability to deliver.
“All the indicators have got worse under their watch and more Tasmanians are homeless than they ever have been before,” he said.
Vincent acknowledged more work was needed on planning consistency across councils.
“We have to do a lot of work to make sure that we’re all in the same focus of delivering more homes quicker and more efficiently and not being a blocker to that happening,” he said.
