THE Palaszczuk government has engaged Gold Coast-based builders Volo Modular to deliver 18 factory-built social homes, as it seeks to partner with a number of pre-fabricated builders to speed up the rollout of social housing.
The duplexes will be split between 11 in Gympie and seven for Eidsvold and delivered before the end of the year.
The government is hoping to rollout more than 100 homes before the end of the year in this way. It said the first-of-its kind partnership with modular homes manufacturers is accelerating the rollout of homes, with builds taking a quarter of the time of a traditional build.
This year’s rollout target includes 53 new homes to accommodate Queensland’s most vulnerable and an additional 64 for frontline workers in regional communities.
Including traditional builds, construction is underway on almost 600 new government-owned homes across the state. The government is spending $5 billion on social and affordable housing, with a target of delivering 13,500 homes. A study by University of New South Wales shows that unmet need for social housing in Queensland now exceeds 100,000 households.
“Through our partnership with modular home manufacturers, new social housing homes will be delivered across Queensland in areas such as Ipswich, Logan, Central Queensland, Wide Bay Burnett and rural and regional Queensland,” said Housing Minister Meaghan Scanlon.
“Every Queenslander deserves a roof over their head and we all know the impacts national housing pressures are having on Queensland right now.”
Public Works and Procurement Minister Mick de Brenni said homes are rolling out from the factories of the government’s 11 industry partners as well as from QBuild’s Rapid Accommodation and Apprenticeships Centre at Eagle Farm.
The government is also close to finalising a site for another QBuild Rapid Accommodation and Apprenticeships Centre in Cairns.
QBuild is training 1,000 tradies and apprentices by 2026 to be skilled carpenters, painters, electricians, and plumbers.
Volo Modular’s Rick Bell said the company would be delivering the 18 duplexes prior to Christmas. The Eidsvold homes will be installed in one day, while the Gympie homes would be completed in two.
“Then they’ll be ready to move in,” he said.
“People now are realising they can have an amazing home manufactured in a factory in a quarter of the timeframe it takes for a traditional build – that’s the beauty of modular.”
