Housing Trust celebrated completion of its new $22m affordable rental housing project in Corrimal which it describes as providing homes ‘worthy of our local heroes’.
The 34 quality new homes are a mix of one and two-bedroom units and four-bedroom townhouses. The project is a major milestone for the Community Housing Provider, and one of Housing Trust’s largest investments in its mission to provide a decent home for everyone.
Housing Trust has worked closely with development partner Traders in Purple to deliver the homes as part of the NSW Government’s Communities Plus initiative.
With virtually zero rental vacancy rates in the Illawarra and 10,000 households in rental stress, demand for the homes has been high. Housing Trust has received more than 250 enquiries for the homes with applicants ranging from singles to large families.
Housing Trust CEO Michele Adair said the need for quality affordable rental housing in the Illawarra was growing exponentially which prompted the launch of the Homes4LocalHeroes campaign on Friday.
“The heroes who’ve been on the frontline during the COVID crisis – nurses, teachers, police and emergency services personnel and aged and child care workers – are the very people these homes have been built for.
“Housing Trust is calling on all levels of government to do everything in their power to provide more homes like this for the community. The upcoming local council elections present an opportunity for every person putting their name forward as a candidate to become champions for more homes just like these, and in their thousands across the region.
“We are delighted that the first tenants will move into these beautiful homes next week. Partnerships with quality developers like Traders in Purple are essential to increasing the supply of Affordable Rental Housing. Housing Trust is already working on the next development in our pipeline to achieve our vision of a decent home for everyone.
“We know that in the next 20 years, at least one in every five new residential properties in the Illawarra will need to be Affordable Rental Housing just to meet new demand. When more people have a safe affordable place to live the whole community benefits.”
Traders in Purple Director Charles Daoud said the project had been built by the community for the community.
“Correa Gardens provided continued employment for our local subcontractors and suppliers which was especially important in the early days of uncertainty during the pandemic. There are great positives both for the community and economy in having a steady pipeline of projects such as this one. It really is an exemplar of co-operation and partnership between the public, private and not-for-profit sectors and our extended team is looking forward to future projects.”
The homes are close to transport, employment and vital community facilities such as schools.
Housing Trust has taken ownership of the majority of the development with the NSW Land and Housing Corporation retaining ownership of seven units that will be managed by Housing Trust.
