The McGowan Government will provide a $500,000 grant to the City of Karratha to refurbish 30 vacant townhouses to address the shortage of accommodation available to service workers in Karratha.
Under the local Service Worker Accommodation Initiative Western Australia, Rio Tinto have transferred the vacant townhouses in Bulgarra to the City of Karratha to deliver more housing options in the community.
The McGowan Government will contribute $500,000 towards refurbishing the properties, with Rio Tinto providing $300,000 and the City of Karratha contributing the balance of $3.7 million.
The funding will assist with upgrading electrics and air conditioning, internal painting, carpentry, fencing, external sewer works and improved access.
Six of the 30 units are scheduled for completion at the end of July 2022, while the final 24 units are expected to be completed by December this year.
The McGowan Government initiatives underway to improve housing availability in the Pilbara region include:
- $6.1 million committed to spot purchase of 16 social dwellings;
- a further $3.2 million allocated for the 2022/23 financial year to purchase additional social dwellings;
- 48 vacant public housing properties either due for major refurbishment work to commence in coming months or scheduled for completion this financial year;
- 13 modular dwellings have been contracted for the Pilbara at a total value of $7.6 million; and
- $12.5 million to subsidise 62 residential lots at Madigan Estate in Karratha.
As stated by Premier Mark McGowan:
"Regional communities like Karratha offer fantastic job opportunities and lifestyle, and my Government is working to ensure affordable housing is available for people looking to move to the regions.
"This is an innovative approach to rapidly bring new housing options online, working with industry and local government to deliver for the Pilbara."
As stated by Housing Minister John Carey:
"This particular initiative will increase affordable accommodation options for people seeking to live and work in Karratha.
"More properties available for sale and rent means less pressure on social housing, which we are working to increase through a range of successful initiatives.
"Our government is implementing alternative ways to get housing delivered as fast as possible in this heated construction market, including alternative construction methods and partnering with local government and community housing providers."
As stated by Pilbara MLA Kevin Michel:
"This increase in housing will offer affordable accommodation options for people seeking to work and live in our city.
"With the support of the McGowan Government and the City of Karratha, we can really look at progressing affordable and attainable housing for all throughout the City of Karratha."
As stated by City of Karratha Mayor Peter Long:
"Housing availability and affordability is a major issue facing our community and the City has been doing everything in its power to address these issues.
"In partnership with industry the City has initiated the Service Worker Accommodation initiative to ensure that workers in service based industries have access to affordable housing options.
"These units will provide short to medium term accommodation options for workers in services that are critical to our community like childcare and allied health. We look forward to continuing to work closely with the State Government and the private sector to address housing issues in our district."
