First group of modular social homes delivered to Tom Price as part of State Government program

Tom Price has received four new social homes as part of the State Government’s modular build program to ease WA’s public housing shortage. The four homes were delivered to Tom Price this month to have the final works completed on them, including plumbing and electrical works. A further five modular social homes are under construction for delivery to South Hedland. The houses are part of the State Government modular build program, which will allocate 36 new homes to regional centres in the Pilbara, Great Southern, Goldfields-Esperance, South West, Wheatbelt and Mid West. The State Government announced in November Perth-based companies Quality Builders, Modular WA and Fleetwood Building Solutions had been appointed to deliver the modular housing. The dire social housing waitlist for WA was revealed in Parliament on April 5 with applications across the state ballooning to 18,738 from 17,824 in October last year — an increase of 914 families. The Pilbara region has 750 households on the waitlist with the highest number of people on the priority list in the North West with a total of 254. Meanwhile, the west Kimberley has 839 people in need of public housing while the East Kimberley has 352. It comes after Education and Training Minister Sue Ellery said in response to questions in Parliament in November there were 343 people on the public housing waitlist for Port and South Hedland. Of 668 public houses in the town, Ms Ellery said 30 were vacant and undergoing maintenance at the end of October, with a further 18 undergoing assessment. Housing Minister John Carey said WA faced a heated construction market. “The fact that within around six months of these contracts being awarded Tom Price will see four new homes delivered to site is a fantastic outcome,” he said. “Had these homes been built on site via traditional construction methods, we expect these homes would still be a long way from delivery. “Modular construction offers many advantages, including less risk of weather delays and works able to be carried out on site simultaneously with the factory build.”