Bundaberg Region residents have been taking full advantage of the Household Resilience Program to undertake renovations and strengthen their homes.
Under the program, owner-occupiers who live in a house built before 1984, located within 50km of the coastline from Bundaberg to the Queensland/Northern Territory border, could apply to receive a Queensland Government grant of 75 per cent of the cost of improvements (up to a maximum grant value of $11,250 including GST).
Since June residents have wasted no time in taking up that opportunity.
Bundaberg Region Mayor, Jack Dempsey said he had received a letter from State Minister for Housing and Public Works Mick de Brenni about the popular program.
Mayor Dempsey said it was great to see residents taking advantage of the opportunity to strengthen their houses.
“It’s great to hear that in the first three weeks since the launch of Phase 2 of the program, on 1 June 2020, 246 applications have been received from owners-occupiers in the Bundaberg regions,” Mayor Dempsey said.
“It’s a great example of Queensland supporting local business and helping make insurance more affordable in cyclone prone areas.
“But, it’s also had the add-on-effect of backing our tradies, and it’s these local tradies who are best placed to tie down old-fashioned rooves, replace weak doors and seal leaky windows in the communities where they live.”
Approved applicants were required to make a minimum 25 per cent co-contribution towards the works, paid directly to their approved contractor.
The upgrade value was required to total $3300 or more.
Steve Hammond owner of Elite Roofing QLD from Bundaberg said that since the announcement, business has been booming.
“There’s been a lot of interest in this and we’ve been a lot busier than usual,” Mr Hammond said.
“That then has a flow-on effect, because the more business we have, the more staff we can put on and the more hours we can give. Not only that, but we also use electricians and certifiers, so there’s a lot of other trades that benefit from this too.”
“It’s given a lot of people the opportunity to do it where they otherwise wouldn’t been able to afford it.”
To apply or find out more information about the program visit here.
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