The SA Housing Trust is leading the way  in modern modular housing construction in South Australia.

In July will release a tender for 120 turn-key homes to be constructed in regional and metropolitan areas. These homes, or key components of them, will be constructed using structures manufactured off site, such as floors, walls and roof panels, to be assembled on site, reducing build times.

The Trust tender, to be launched on the tenders.sa.gov.au website in July,  will provide a pipeline of work for businesses who build modular homes here, with the 120 public homes to be built over the next four years, fostering this niche building sector.

Currently in South Australia, modular construction is only about 5% of the market and occurs predominantly in sectors like health and education and in the commercial building sector. This tender will help to move it in to the residential sector, making modular construction a more available option. For public housing, modular construction will potentially mean homes can be delivered faster in the current housing crisis.

The tender will also help us assess any  potential cost benefits to modular construction. The approach is designed to reduce build times while maintaining high standards of quality and design, compliant with building codes.

Modular construction can offer a range of potential benefits:

• accelerated delivery
• better cost predictability and potential cost reduction
• controlled construction environments and reduced site variables like weather impact
• improved thermal performance of homes
• standard designs and scalability
• less building waste and better lower carbon footprint.

The Trust has already built a small number of homes using panelled walls, with the homes built faster than traditional construction methods.