ANOTHER 53 Western Australian builders have been added to the Cook government’s panel that will deliver the state’s $2.6 billion public housing program.
There are now 145 builders on the panel following the expression of interest process, in which government sought expressions of interest from registered builders of all sizes as part of the annual refresh of the panel.
The panel was established in late 2022 to primarily support the delivery and refurbishment of social housing. The government’s own program seeks to deliver 4,000 social housing dwellings, and it announced this week it had reached the 2,000 home milestone, and said there are more than 1,000 social homes currently under contract or construction, with refurbishments and maintenance work to be carried out on thousands more.
Refurbishment, construct-only and design-and-construct opportunities are available for those appointed to the builders panel. Builders were asked to nominate their capacity to deliver as part of the panel procurement process.
“Appointment to the panel cuts red tape for small, medium and large builders, who are pre-approved to take on Government contracts and deliver social housing dwellings throughout WA,” said Housing Minister John Carey.
“It’s brilliant to see another 53 small and medium Western Australian businesses – including mum and dad businesses – join the state-wide panel, which has more than 140 builders across WA now pre-approved to deliver and refurbish social housing in WA.”
ShelterWA this month called on the Cook government to retrofit all of Western Australia’s 42,000 social housing dwellings by 2030, saying the undertaking could wipe $50 million off social housing renters’ energy bills every year by making homes energy efficient.
To encourage participation, particularly for smaller-scale and regional contractors, the process for qualifying for the builders panel was simplified, the government said.
The government last week announced up to $50 million in grants will be made available for registered community housing providers in Western Australia under a process aimed at boosting regional social and community housing supply.
Apprentice boost
The Cook government also announced yesterday it would deliver an additional $21.5 million to expand the Group Training Organisation (GTO) Wage Subsidy Program in a bid to boost the labour-constrained construction workforce.
An additional 150 places for apprentices will be funded through the 2024-25 state budget and made available to GTOs immediately.
The GTO Wage Subsidy provides up to $135,000 for a four-year apprenticeship, to cover the average estimated award wage of full-time apprentices in the building and construction industry.
“Ensuring we have a pipeline of skilled local workers for our building and construction industry is absolutely crucial to those efforts and means local businesses can get on with building homes,” Premier Roger Cook said.
