Lake Macquarie will soon become home to the state’s first modular social homes as part of a $10 million plan to help ease NSW’s burgeoning housing crisis.
The premises are set to be built using Modern Methods of Construction (MMC) aimed at delivering more homes sooner.
There are four sites in Lake Macquarie that will host five permanent modular social structures.
The homes will be built using prefabrication, off-site manufacturing methods, including 3D printing, robotics and artificial intelligence (AI).
It is expected they’ll be delivered 20% faster than traditional buildings.
Modular housing has not previously been used at scale in NSW.
But, the project will help deliver on the NSW Government’s $224 million Essential Housing Package promise, announced in the NSW State Budget for the 2023/24 financial year.
A procurement process for the delivery of these homes has begun, with completion expected by early 2025.
Homes NSW is currently working with industry on the use of architecturally designed MMC permanent homes that are compliant with the National Construction Code and Building Sustainability Index (BASIX).
“Housing affordability and availability is the single biggest pressure facing the people of New South Wales,” says NSW Premier Chris Minns.
“We are pulling every lever we can to tackle the housing crisis.”
Minister for Housing and Homelessness Rose Jackson agrees.
“Amid a severe housing crisis, we need to look at every option we must get a roof over people’s heads sooner. Leveraging modern construction methods will help us provide sustainable, quality housing faster for the people that need it most,” she says.
“We know people don’t have time to wait and while we get on with the job of building 8,400 new public homes announced in the recent budget, we will continue to leverage every opportunity we have.”
For more on this topic:
- Housing crisis forces tiny solution
- Councillors discuss tiny homes idea
- Cameron Park tops 2024 DA list
- Councils told to speed up DAs to ease housing crisis
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