Cook Government selling apartments part of ‘affordable’ housing project for $1.8 million

As the State battles an ever-worsening housing disaster, the Cook Government is cashing in on the crisis by selling three-bedroom apartments on public land for more than $1.5 million a pop as part of an “affordable” living project. The Muse at Artisan Place was sold to WA taxpayers as a visionary housing development — the Government partnering with the private sector to deliver 256 apartments for everyday families across a vacant 1.4 hectare slice of land on Burt Street in Fremantle. While the private builder and developer Edge Visionary Living says its sold 60 per cent of the first two stages, the price tag on the apartments in the Fremantle project would be out of reach for most first-home buyers and families. At just 68sqm — close to half the size of the average apartment — one-bedroom, one-bathroom dwellings are advertised for sale off the plan for more than $740,000. For a small family in need of a little extra space there’s a two-bedroom, two-bathroom option with 121 square metres of floor space advertised for a touch over $1.4 million. Or for $1.8m you could buy a 156sqm apartment fit with three bedrooms, and two bathrooms. When The Muse development was first announced by the McGowan Government in 2017, then housing minister Peter Tinley said it would “keep families, key workers and seniors in the local community”. The Government planned to achieve this by building a mix of social housing, affordable home ownership and rental opportunities, as well as properties for sale at market value. “This highly successful business model not only delivers social and affordable housing for Western Australians, it also helps to create and support jobs,” Mr Tinley said. “The development partner will benefit from a lower entry cost as the State Government owns the land. In return, a proportion of the completed homes will be retained by government for social and affordable housing programs.” Not much has been said about the project since Edge Vision Living was selected by the Government in May 2020 to begin development. The current Housing Minister John Carey regularly holds media opportunities and issue press releases at the start of construction on affordable and social housing projects, also promoting them on his social media, but when works started at Fremantle earlier this year he didn’t say a word. The West Australian asked Mr Carey how many of the 256 apartments would remain State-owned social housing, and whether he thought properties over $1m could be considered “affordable” homes for the average family. In a statement, Mr Carey said 23 of the 153 apartments in stage one will be social housing, with further State-owned properties to be built in future parts of the development. “DevelopmentWA and its development partner are jointly funding the project, with any revenue shared in accordance with commercial terms between these two parties,” he said. “With an average construction cost of approximately $640,000 per dwelling, the focus of this project is to deliver a boost to housing supply, and the State expects to recoup its investment. “Apart from the social homes, the State Government will not maintain any ownership once development is complete.” Meanwhile, the State’s housing disaster continues to spiral with fresh ABS data showing WA had the biggest fall in new home approvals in the country, with a 2.5 per cent drop in the three months to September compared with the same period last year. Only 84 multi-unit dwellings were approved in WA in the September quarter, which was down from 257 in the previous quarter and the lowest number since July 2023. Monthly approvals have fallen below 100 units or apartments in WA only a dozen times since mid-1983. The number of people looking for public housing tenancies is also continuing to grow with 20,264 people on the list as of June 30, and the average wait time now stretching three years. More than 3000 of those in the queue have been there for half a decade, and 102 people were removed from the list last financial year because they had died while waiting for affordable accommodation.