Labor promises public housing program

Labor has promised a $150 million program to upgrade 600 public housing properties if it wins Saturday's election.

SA Premier Jay Weatherill

SA Premier Jay Weatherill is promising $150 million to upgrade 600 public housing properties. (AAP)

A re-elected Labor government will invest $150 million to replace 600 old and outdated public housing properties, creating 500 jobs, Premier Jay Weatherill says.

Ahead of Saturday's state election, Labor has also unveiled a shared equity scheme to make it easier for low and mid-income earners to enter the property market.

Mr Weatherill says the construction program will create work across the building trade and in other sectors.

"Electricians, bricklayers, plumbers, everybody that gets involved in a house, we want to make sure they have a continuous pipeline of work," he told reporters on Monday.

"There are ups and downs in the private market, but the public investment can continue that pipeline of work."

By building two homes on many of the public housing blocks, the program will also free up about 400 allotments that can be sold off to the private housing market.

Mr Weatherill said the shared equity program would provide about 1000 would-be home buyers with a "massively important leg-up" in getting into the housing market.

The scheme will allow home buyers to access up to 25 per cent of the value of a property as an interest-free deposit.

"Crucially it will get them into home ownership for the first time," the premier said.

"This is about making home ownership more accessible for more South Australians."


Share

2 min read

Published

Source: AAP



Share this with family and friends


Get SBS News daily and direct to your Inbox

Sign up now for the latest news from Australia and around the world direct to your inbox.

By subscribing, you agree to SBS’s terms of service and privacy policy including receiving email updates from SBS.

Download our apps
SBS News
SBS Audio
SBS On Demand

Listen to our podcasts
An overview of the day's top stories from SBS News
Interviews and feature reports from SBS News
Your daily ten minute finance and business news wrap with SBS Finance Editor Ricardo Gonçalves.
A daily five minute news wrap for English learners and people with disability
Get the latest with our News podcasts on your favourite podcast apps.

Watch on SBS
SBS World News

SBS World News

Take a global view with Australia's most comprehensive world news service
Watch the latest news videos from Australia and across the world