Community Batteries to benefit public housing tenants
Low-income and vulnerable households in Magill and Edwardstown will be among the first South Australians to benefit from lower power prices under a new community battery program. In partnership with Tesla and the Department for Energy and Mining, the SA Housing Trust launched the first two community batteries as part of the emPowering SA program in October. The program will benefit up to 600 public housing tenants with lower power prices using community batteries. These batteries will benefit renters living in homes that can’t host solar panels or residential battery storage to save up to $500 on their annual power bills.
Following the launch, we are now identifying other eligible tenants to participate. Tenants closest to the batteries will receive offers first, until the target number of 300 participant households is reached at each location. The batteries will be operated by Tesla, which manages the SA VPP.
Oaklands Green development
Works are well underway at the Oaklands Green development to deliver the largest social housing regeneration project undertaken in South Australia in over 20 years.
Our partnership with Junction Australia will provide 255 Housing Trust properties as social housing at the 14-hectare Oaklands Park site. Additionally, over 800 market dwellings are planned for construction at the site, many of which will be offered as affordable housing. We plan to complete the first of our 13 properties around the start of next year.
Construction underway on apartments to support vulnerable women
Work is underway to build a 50-bed apartment block in Adelaide's CBD to support older women at risk of homelessness. South Australian builder Mossop Group Pty Ltd has begun construction on the 50-bed apartment development, funded through the Public Housing Improvement Program.
The SA Housing Trust will run the six-storey development. An on-site community wellbeing manager will support tenants to manage any issues that may impact their tenancy and the community, as well as access to support services.
The Trust will collaborate with community and health services to provide in-reach services, including on-site tenant facilities like meeting rooms, a computer room that enables tenants who don’t own a device to access online services, free wi-fi, multi-use spaces, and communal gardens for well-being. We are expecting the project to complete in 2026.
Apprentice Meet and Greet
The Trust recently supported the Construction Futures: Apprentice Meet & Greet event in Salisbury. The event offered a platform for students undertaking Construction Pathway programs to connect with prospective employers.
Vocational Education and Training (VET) leaders from across northern Adelaide schools nominated over 50 students to attend, who are seeking either a school-based or full-time apprenticeship in a construction trade. They joined 25 employers in a Meet & Greet session, where they had the opportunity to share their resumés and enjoy a sausage sizzle.
Many of SA Housing Trust's valued contractors came to potentially meet their next apprentice. Over the coming weeks, we will arrange work trials.
The event was a partnership between SA Housing Trust, Department for Education, CITB, SYC, NASSSA, ATEC, and Peer, and was held at Salisbury High School's Trade Training Centre.
More housing for vulnerable women
More women in South Australia will soon have access to crisis accommodation and recovery services in a brand new, second generation Catherine House in Adelaide's CBD.
The Trust is a proud partner to deliver the $32.6 million project, which will feature 52 social housing apartments available for 24/7 crisis accommodation, as well as longer-term accommodation services.
The project has been made possible through a combination of federal, state and private funding. The project has been allocated $14.3 million from the Social Housing Accelerator.
The new purpose-built site will offer a range of facilities including an on-site women’s respite and recovery centre, dedicated education and computer training spaces, meeting rooms, areas for crafts and cooking, and a secure outdoor garden.
The site will offer self-contained units where women for the first time will have private bathroom, kitchen, and laundry facilities suitable for an individual or a small family. For the first time, children will be able to stay at the site. The project will be managed by Housing Choices and Catherine House.
A new identity: Homes Today
We have a new brand identity for the Social Housing Accelerator Payment (SHAP) program, ‘Homes Today’.
We recently announced an investment of $135.8 million over five years to build and upgrade around 442 additional social housing homes, funded from the Commonwealth Government’s Social Housing Accelerator Payment (SHAP). SHAP projects include a mix of new public and community housing builds and renovations of existing housing stock.
Homes Today will rapidly construct high-quality social housing to uplift lives and strengthen communities.
Mark McCullough's story
Hear Mark McCullough speak - Mark was 12-years-old when he first experienced homelessness.
Thanks to the SA Housing Trust partnership program called Holbrooks (formerly known as Housing for Health), Mark is turning his life around.
U-Panel trials to speed up house construction
We are trialling U-Panels, a new building technology, to speed up the construction of walls in new public houses.
This modular concrete walling system is locally manufactured made from 55% coal ash, a by-product of coal fired power stations.
In addition to being a faster and more cost-effective building solution, U-Panel walls offer increased resistance to fire, termites, and electrical hazards, as well as a reduction in waste and the carbon footprint. U-Panels can be assembled in any weather conditions.
We’re currently building four new homes in Mile End with local SA builder Astel Homes.
The build time of these homes could be reduced by as many as six weeks.
Woodville Place development update
There is significant progress on Stages 3 and 4 of Woodville Place. We are nearing completion on 37 Affordable Housing Initiative dwellings and are about to start building 30 new public housing dwellings.
These Stages will yield 39 new allotments, a new public road (Peppermint Lane) and a new drainage reserve that will not only protect the area from flooding, but also eventually be a beautiful green oasis using the same palette as what was used on the Hanson Road reserve in Stage 1.
The team expects to complete these stages in the first half of 2025, with work on Stage 5 (the final stage) to follow immediately. The extended social benefits of the renewal project are also being seen with a Childcare Centre opposite the project currently being renovated after being closed for nearly 10 years.
