A community housing developer says there is plenty of room to build more homes on Hobart’s northern fringe, as work begins on 56 new social and affordable homes at Bridgewater.
The two and three-bedroom units are being built by Loreto Community Housing and are due to be finished in 2027.
Loreto chief executive Cody Burdon said the area around Granton and Brighton was ready for much more development, helped by the new bridge and its proximity to Hobart.
“There’s definitely a lot of land that could be used for further development in this space,” Burdon said.
He said the company had just over 200 homes under construction across Tasmania, most of them funded through the Commonwealth’s Housing Australia Future Fund.
The Bridgewater project is part of the state government’s goal to deliver 10,000 social and affordable homes by June 2032.
By the end of April, Homes Tasmania counted 4,854 homes and lots towards the target since October 2020 – about 49% of the way to 10,000.
That tally spans new builds, crisis and supported accommodation, subsidised rentals, shared-equity home purchases and land sold for housing.
Housing and Planning Minister Kerry Vincent said the homes were being designed to match what Tasmanians needed.
“It’s very important that we have a mix of units that are going to address the needs of Tasmanians in the near future,” Vincent said.
He said there was strong demand for one and two-bedroom homes, as well as larger three and four-bedroom properties.
The state government has delivered 2,207 social housing and supported accommodation dwellings so far.
It has also added 119 crisis units and helped 1,135 households into affordable rentals.
Another 1,244 households have been helped into home ownership, mostly through the MyHome shared equity scheme, which lets buyers purchase with a 2% deposit.
Demand for social housing remains high. There were 5,507 active applications on the housing register at the end of April, with most people seeking one-bedroom homes.
Burdon said Loreto worked with locked-in builders to keep its projects on time and delivered its sites in partnership with the state and federal governments.
A further 5,146 homes and lots are in the pipeline and will also count towards the 10,000 target, according to Homes Tasmania.
The Bridgewater units are expected to be tenanted once the project is finished.
