Exclusive: Hastings social housing held up by supply and labour shortages

Documents released to 1 NEWS show the Housing Minister was warned about the issues.

Desperately needed social housing in Hastings is being held up by supply chain disruptions and labour shortages across the construction sector, 1 NEWS can reveal.

Documents released to 1 NEWS under the Official Information Act lay bare the state of the problems facing the industry.

Housing Minister Megan Woods has been told supply chain issues are “affecting availability of products” and “supply chain and labour constraints and the potential loss of labour to Australia are an increasing concern”.

And it means the construction of about 150 homes in Hastings that should’ve been completed by now are delayed - some until June next year.

Hastings has one of the longest social housing waitlists in the country, with over 700 people left waiting.

Advocate Dawn Bedingfield told 1 NEWS the situation for many is “shocking” and at “disastrous levels”.

Unrecognizable manual worker using circular saw while cutting piece of wood at construction site. His colleagues are in the background.

“We've got a lady working with three children, all sleeping in the car, she gets her children ready from the car,” Bedingfield says.

The stories from people needing help are endless.

“This is the worst, this is unbelievable. I can't believe what it was like; I was ready to retire from being an advocate but I can't - I'm just up against a brick wall to try and do anything.”

The official advice also says supply chain issues are “becoming an increasing concern for the sector with intelligence suggesting this is pushing up prices”.

Woods says almost every construction project across the country has been delayed due to the issues.

She met with industry leaders and members of the Construction Sector Accord yesterday to discuss what can be done. She says she’s working closely with them on the issues and is considering exemptions to allow more specialised staff in the country.

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