Modular home builder Uniplan could speed up housing supply, in trial

As part of a Minns government trial to tackle NSW critical housing shortages, a $224 million essential housing package providing funding for social housing and homelessness services was announced in September 2023, including $10m for a modular housing trial to deliver faster, quality social housing.

Treasurer Daniel Mookhey said housing affordability and availability are among NSW residents' biggest pressures.

"NSW is in the midst of a fierce housing crisis. Rents are rising. Interest rates are climbing. Homeownership rates are falling," Mr Mookhey said in his budget speech.

Uniplan Group is an inspiring Armidale success story.

Starting out in 1999 as a three-man team consisting of Howard, Ben and William Scott, Uniplan began constructing buildings outdoors and has since expanded its facilities and capabilities and now, inclusive of Timberline Bathroom Products, employs an estimated 220 people.

Managing Director Ben Scott says Uniplan Group's main message to the government is that the modular housing model offers an extremely efficient and affordable alternative to traditional buildings.

"Over a number of years, the attitude towards modular has shifted from being an inferior alternative building mechanism to being a much smarter, better-quality method of building in the sense that it is far more controlled," Mr Scott said.

"We can provide much better-quality management here in the factory. The output is so much more predictable. There are no weather delays or typical building delays you see on site."

Mr Scott said it means Uniplan can "absolutely guarantee" a completion date for when the module will roll out of the factory months in advance.

"Which is a huge benefit as the system is entirely tracked and managed, the certainty of modular construction is one of its greatest appeals," he said.

This kind of appeal could well be on the radar of governmental bodies looking to solve a complex housing crisis in NSW.

The NSW government's $10m modular housing trial is being designed to determine if modular can bring benefits to delivering affordable housing faster and speeding up the delivery of affordable housing.

Land and Housing Corp are administering the trial and Mr Scott says Uniplan Group is still in the process of determining the particulars of the modular trial and how they could possibly assist the government.

"Absolutely, modular does have the ability to speed up the construction of new dwellings, particularly in regional and remote areas which is an area where they struggle to provide housing for," Mr Scott said.

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