Homes North is preparing to take over a huge federal government contact for the region’s social housing, which will bring more than 40 jobs to the region.
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At the end of last year, the locally-based company beat out national competition to secure the 20-year contract. In May next year, roughly 1700 properties will be transferred from the federal government in to the management of Homes North.
Homes North chief executive officer Maree McKenzie said the contract would allow the company to more than double its workforce over the next three years, taking it to more than 80 employees.
“They will all be locally based, we don’t have a head office in a metro area,” Ms McKenzie said.
The organisation has also opened up its services to landlords and real estate agents who might be interested in leasing properties for social housing.
“We sublet the property and remain the continuous tenant, so there is no loss of rent through vacancies,” Ms McKenzie said.
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“We’ve had some landlords with us for up to 20 years. Two decades without any lost rent is a pretty good deal.”
Ms McKenzie said Homes North taking over the government’s social housing contract was also good news for tenants.
“I think they’ll notice we are very customer focused,” she said.
“We really regard our relationship with the tenant very highly. Part of our remit is to support people into education, training and social inclusion.
“We’ve got lots of community activities that they can get involved in.”