A South Australian government agency has launched a $3.35 million trial to stimulate the modular housing industry, Yahoo Finance reported, with display homes now on show in Adelaide as more than 60 councils across the state consider the factory-built dwellings to house nurses, teachers and police in their communities.
Renewal SA's Office for Regional Housing is running the trial, which aims to address misconceptions about the size, style, liveability and cost of modular homes, according to Peter Gatsios, who is overseeing the program. He said the homes can match traditional builds in cost and construction time in regional areas. The trial comes as the building and construction industry faces approximately 141,000 workforce vacancies nationally, with about 4,000 in South Australia, according to the Master Builders Workforce Blueprint.
Modular or prefabricated homes are constructed in a factory and transported to site, allowing faster deployment than traditional on-site builds. Tasmania has constructed approximately 280 prefabricated homes, with more to follow, while Victoria has received more than 70 modular homes in regional locations, with a further 136 under construction and a total pipeline of over 350 units targeted for delivery by mid-2028. In May, Wesfarmers announced a joint venture to build a manufacturing facility targeting output of more than 2,000 apartments per year, with Western Australian government backing, at an anticipated cost about 20% below traditional construction and taking roughly half the build time.
Master Builders SA chief executive Will Frogley told AAP that he was not surprised by the level of interest in modular homes, given serious labour shortages and surging material costs, though he said traditional homes would not be replaced. Cotality's Cordell Construction Cost Index recorded a 30% rise in building costs over five years in categories such as tiling.
Reporting: Yahoo Finance, AAP
Written by Pick & Scroll News from the reporting and documents linked above.
