Businesses from all sectors in the Tatiara District—whether trades, diesel mechanics, car dealers, agricultural machinery and supplies, manufacturing, or engineering—with five or 500 staff are unable to grow, or in some cases operate at capacity, because there is no accommodation available to house the staff they need to attract.
This is the situation facing the district, council chief executive officer Anne Champness has told The [Naracoorte] News.
Ms Champness said the housing crisis was stunting economic growth for the regional towns within the district.
She said the rental vacancy rates hovered around zero percent much of the time, when a healthy vacancy rate was considered about 3 percent.
“While as local government we focus more on the economic challenge of businesses not being able to recruit/accommodate staff, there is of course another significant aspect to the housing crisis: the inability of our residents, whether young people wanting to move out of home, families renting their home having to move because their current home sells, or older people wanting to downsize into smaller homes, to find somewhere to live.
“Due to demand, rents have also increased significantly in recent years,” Ms Champness added.
However, a new $2.7 million housing development project that includes a 55-allotment residential subdivision has begun in Bordertown, with hopes of ending the district’s housing crisis.
As part of the unique partnership, Renewal SA’s Office for Regional Housing will collaborate with the council to deliver approximately 15 new houses within stage one of the new development, which will see the new residential allotments opened up on the town’s western edge.
The partnership would enable subdivision and delivery of civil works for stage one of the project, which is being developed on land that was purchased by the council in June 2023.
Renewal SA has committed to part-fund the civil works and construct at least five new houses for essential state government workers – teachers, health care workers and police – under the Regional Key Worker Housing Scheme.
Local businesses and investors will have the opportunity to acquire additional house and land packages utilising a procurement process aimed at aggregating demand and seeking to appoint a single home builder.
This would allow all parties to benefit from economies of scale and a single, simplified delivery model.
Ms Champness said the Regional Housing Initiative would provide $779,318 for the council to help develop the final two stages of the 55-allotment residential subdivision on Ramsay Terrace, Bordertown.
“As with the partnership for the first stage of the Ramsay Terrace development, the council will contribute five of the allotments to be developed for the development of homes for essential state government workers,” Ms Champness said.
She said the council was also finalising the designs for a residential subdivision on Bennett Street, Keith, which would include 21 residential allotments when completed.
The CEO said the critical housing shortage provided a significant barrier to the recruitment of staff and posed a serious risk to economic prosperity.
“The shortage of housing in regional areas has been well documented over many years, whether through the Regional Australia Institute, the Local Government Association, or state and federal parliamentary inquiries.”
Ms Champness said the council would place greater emphasis on developing residential subdivisions this year.
This article appeared in the Naracoorte News.