Hon John Carey BA MLA, Minister for Housing; Lands; Homelessness; Local Government (WA), Media Release, 15 March 2022

Housing Minister John Carey today announced the second tranche of homes to be delivered through the McGowan Government’s social housing Modular Build Program.

21 homes will be delivered in the second tranche with contracts worth $9 million signed with multiple modular building companies.

The homes will be delivered in towns across the Great Southern, Goldfields-Esperance, Wheatbelt and Mid-West including:

• Leonora (2);
• Kalgoorlie (2);
• Geraldton (5);
• Manjimup (6);
• Katanning (4); and
• Albany (2). 

A total of 36 new homes have now been contracted through the Modular Build Program, with 15 properties having already been allocated for delivery in South Hedland, Albany, Tom Price and Laverton.

The Modular Build Program was established by the Housing Minister as a faster alternative to deliver social housing in the current heated construction market.

Modular construction involves high-quality housing built off-site in a factory before being transported to location.

A total of 200 homes are anticipated to be delivered through the Modular Build Program, including 150 for regional Western Australia.

The program was made possible by the McGowan Government’s $875 million allocation towards social housing in the recent State Budget, the largest one-off investment ever made by a WA State Government.

The additional investment takes the State Government’s commitments to social housing to more than $2.1 billion over the coming four years, which will include the delivery of around 3,300 new homes.

Comments attributed to Housing Minister John Carey:

“Right across the country there are significant challenges for housing construction, which is why I have been reforming our housing delivery and investing in a range of measures, including modular, to get homes built as fast as possible.

“I’m a big advocate of modular housing production and growing this industry in WA. It offers many advantages including less risk of weather delays and works able to be carried out on-site simultaneously with the factory build. 

“The companies that deliver these homes have all the necessary trades in house, so they have the capacity to deliver faster than traditional builds in the current market.

“We have now signed contracts for 36 new homes through the Modular Build Program, with all the homes to be delivered to communities in regional WA.

“In a heated construction market, we must be agile in the way we deliver social housing and we will continue look for the best ways to leverage our $2.1 billion worth of investment.”