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Speaking while visiting Perth in Northern Tasmania, Minister for Housing and Assistant Treasurer Michael Sukkar noted that many Tasmanians had been taking advantage of the government’s HomeBuilder program, with the state’s application numbers now three times over initial forecasts.
According to Mr Sukkar, there have been 2,636 HomeBuilder applications received from Tasmanians to date.
Moreover, he highlighted that recent statistics from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) show that the number of owner-occupied loans for construction in the three months to January 2021 were up 104.2 per cent in Tasmania, while the number of detached dwelling approvals in the island state were up 60.6 per cent during the three months to January 2021 (compared with the same time last year).
In addition, the Real Estate Institute of Australia found that the number of first home buyers in Tasmania increased by 51.4 per cent over the past year.
He said: “Thanks to HomeBuilder, Tasmania’s tradies can look ahead and plan with confidence in 2021.
“Every one of the 2,636 HomeBuilder applications received from Tasmanians to date represents a signed contract, which means more work in the pipeline, keeping Tassie tradies on the tools and in a job.”
He added: “HomeBuilder was designed immediately to inject confidence and encourage buyers back into the market to offset the devastating effects of the pandemic on the residential construction industry, and on all counts it has delivered.”
Senator for Tasmania Claire Chandler added that the government was committed to supporting the increase of housing supply in Tasmania.
She said: “The Morrison government understands the need to increase the supply of housing in Tasmania, and HomeBuilder is helping first home buyers realise the dream of owning their own home.
“We all want more young Tasmanians to have the opportunity to live and work in our state rather than going to the mainland, and ensuring housing supply caters to demand is essential to this achieving this.
“HomeBuilder is just one way this government is supporting jobs and stimulating economic growth in Tasmania to assist with our economic recovery from the pandemic,” Senator Chandler said.
She noted that the extension of HomeBuilder until 31 March 2021 would also ensure there would be a steady pipeline of construction activity through to 2022 to “lock in this momentum” for the construction sector.
According to government statistics, there have been a total of 88,624 HomeBuilder applications across Australia (as at 26 February 2021), with 71,148 for new builds. Just under 17,500 applications were for renovations.
[Related: HomeBuilder applications exceed 75k]
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