To:  Hon Nick Champion MP

Minister for Housing and Urban Development
Minister for Planning
Minister for Housing Infrastructure

This annual report will be presented to Parliament to meet the statutory reporting requirements of (insert relevant acts and regulations) and the requirements of Premier and Cabinet Circular PC013 Annual Reporting.

This report is verified to be accurate for the purposes of annual reporting to the Parliament of South Australia.

Submitted on behalf of the South Australian Housing Trust by:

Mary Patetsos AM
Presiding Member, South Australian Housing Trust Board

Date:  September 2025           Signed: Mary Patetsos

In 2024-25, housing affordability remains a substantial challenge for many South Australian’s. Too often, it is housing insecurity that makes it even harder for low-income households to tackle daily living. Living in a secure, comfortable and affordable home is vital for wellbeing, and during the course of this year, we have seen how a home positively shapes the community and environment around us.

Helping low-income households is at the heart of what we do at the SA Housing Trust. We tackle housing insecurity by making more homes available to South Australians on every front; from building new public and affordable homes, to renovating old ones, from assisting renters in the private rental market, to helping people on their home ownership journey.

This year, we have prioritised building new public homes. Despite challenges caused by a shortage of skilled tradespeople, we are on course to achieve the first net growth in public housing in decades.

We’ve built more homes, including 150 in regional areas, and we’ve stopped viability sales. We have modernised Trust properties with a successful completion of the Public Housing Improvement Program, renovating 350 vacant properties to make them tenantable again.

The Federal Government’s Social Housing Accelerator Payment is speeding up the delivery of social housing projects across South Australia, with the Trust set to deliver new and refurbished public housing dwellings across the state by 30 June 2028, and other developments in partnership with the Community Housing sector.

We enhanced our reputation as a ready-to-work agency and were the first state to successfully complete round two applications to the Federal Government’s Housing Australia Future Fund, with 400 new social housing outcomes committed across Adelaide, Berri, Loxton, Renmark and Ceduna, between the Trust and community housing provider Junction.

High rents in the private rental market continue to make it hard for renters to save a home deposit. We introduced the innovative Rent-to-Buy Affordable Housing Initiative as a pathway to home ownership for eligible long-term renters to buy one of 100 homes. Under the scheme, people who have been renting for minimum of 24 months will be able to rent the home at 75% of market rent for two years, with the first right to purchase the home, supporting them to move from renting to home ownership. The affordable rent provides a realistic opportunity for people to save for a home while renting.

In today’s tight rental market, it is critical we get eligible people into Trust homes as quickly as possible. In January, we launched the Vacancy Program to streamline how quickly we re-tenant properties after they become vacant. The program is streamlining allocation and vacancy management processes by proactively reviewing customers on the single housing register, along with prioritising vacancy maintenance work, and allocating properties and completing non-urgent maintenance after the new tenants have moved in. These combined efforts are reducing the number of vacant Trust properties.

The Trust recognises that most of our tenants are peaceful, law abiding and respectful of others right to live in peace and has always been committed to addressing antisocial behaviour of public housing tenants. Changes have been made to better respond to the issues and provide guidance towards what it takes to be a good neighbour. The Antisocial Behaviour Policy was reviewed, removing the use of verbal warnings and replacing them with a written warning. Further changes are to follow with the implementation of a new Good Neighbour Policy later this year.

The Trust has remained committed to improving housing outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in South Australia through the work completed under the SA Aboriginal Housing Strategy and the Closing the Gap agreement, including the commencement of the new 40-unit Purrkanaitya Aboriginal Elder Village in Bedford Park, which will allow Elders to live together in a community. The Trust also launched our second Innovate Reconciliation Action Plan 2024-2026, and celebrated National Reconciliation Week and NAIDOC Week through events held across the organisation.

The Trust is also playing a part in the solution to our state’s trades shortage. Our 250 Apprentices Program continued with 40 now fully qualified tradespeople completing their apprenticeships this year, with another 230 actively engaged in the program. These tradespeople are now qualified in skills such as carpentry, tiling, plumbing, electrical and other building trades. They will build houses for South Australians for decades to come, as well as having skills for life, underpinning their own housing independence pathway options.

Our staff continue to work hard to help South Australians in need, with our customer contacts reaching more than 310,000 calls, emails, visits to Trust offices from customers, online and other queries. We provided financial assistance to commence and maintain private rental accommodation, along with funding emergency accommodation for people in housing crisis. More than 150,000 maintenance work orders were raised and completed, and we visited tenants in their homes, providing support and referral advice when required.

These figures speak to the dedication, compassion and work ethic our staff bring to work every day.

We extend our thanks to everyone whose dedication makes the SA Housing Trust’s work possible. Your commitment brings comfort and security to those who need it most, and we deeply appreciate the care and effort you put in every day.

Signed:  Mary Patetsos AM
Presiding Member
South Australian Housing Trust Board

Signed:  Julie-Anne Burgess
Chief Executive
South Australian Housing Trust