NSW Government announces modular housing trial

The Minns Labor Government has announced the first sites to trial modular social housing, which it says will help deliver homes quicker. 

The Government has touted a $10 million investment to explore and trial the use of modular housing, with sites in Wollongong and Lake Macquarie identified. 

Three sites in Wollongong will host three modular social homes, whilst four sites in Lake Macquarie will host five modular social homes. 

A procurement process for the delivery of these homes has begun, with completion expected by early 2025.

Modular housing provides a cost effective and time efficient alternative to traditional building methods. It is estimated that modular homes can be delivered 20 percent faster than traditional methods.

As modular housing has not previously been used at scale in NSW, feedback from a new taskforce highlighted several regulatory barriers to the rollout of modular housing widely,.

Premier of New South Wales, Chris Minns said that housing affordability and availability is, “the single biggest pressure facing the people of New South Wales.”

“We are pulling every lever we can to tackle the housing crisis, and today is an important milestone in our work to utilise nontraditional methods of delivering more homes, sooner rather than later.”