By
Leesha Furse
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CPL
Ben Vickery, his wife Shannon and daughters Stephanie and
Catriona receive the keys to their house from DHA’s Cameron
Yin.
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Photo
by LAC Greg Pierce
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THERE
has been no shortage of volunteers willing to move homes at RAAF
Base Tindal lately. A multi-stage $18 million refurbishment program
is under way on 200 Defence Housing Authority (DHA) homes at the
base and at Katherine.
Cameron Yin, the manager of Tindal’s Housing Management Centre,
said Air Force personnel were queuing up to move into a renovated
house.
“They love it, it’s totally voluntary,” Mr Yin said. “We’ve constantly
had 50 people or more on the list.
We can’t keep up with demand. They’re itching to get into one
of these houses. It’s such a vast improvement on the original
floor plan.
We’ve had no adverse comments at all.”
Mr Yin said moves were fully funded, including all allowances,
and Defence had ruled there was no fringe benefits tax liability.
The houses being upgraded are those Defence built in about 1988
“when the standard of the day was a basic bedroom, a basic living
area and kitchen”.
“The main criteria is an additional living area and an ensuite
and to fit that all in we have had to reconfigure the original
floor plan,” Mr Yin said.
“There’s an increase in the size of the bedrooms and we replace
the kitchens and do an internal and external paint. With today’s
families, the average house being built has two living areas and
an ensuite to the main bedroom. The average child has a TV, an
XBox, a computer, a stereo, so the basic bedrooms can’t fit all
that gear.”
The renovation will add about 40 sq m to a 115-120 sq m home.
The homes are being renovated in groups of 25 to 30. The second
stage is completed and the third stage is about to start.
Mr Yin said the renovations were planned to be completed over
three years, but might take an extra 12 months because of a shortage
of construction workers.
“We were originally hoping three years but because we are so remote
it’s been really hard to get enough contractors to do the work.
We were hoping to complete two stages a year, but it’s probably
only about 1½ stages a year,” he said.
Last year DHA increased housing options for ADF members with the
construction of the 94-apartment Vantage Point complex in Darwin.
DHA has also recently acquired a large site for a proposed residential
development on Lee Point Road in Darwin.
How
it works
You
must volunteer your house to be renovated; no-one is being forced
to move. Eligible houses are those built between 1988 and 1990,
which are owned by the Authority.
A first in, best dressed and bedroom entitlement system works.
For example, if you’re first on the list and you’re entitled to
a threebedroom home, you get the pick of newly renovated three-bedroom
homes.
If you’re second on the list with the same entitlement, you get
one less three-bedroom home to choose from. Third on the list
and entitled to a four-bedroom home, you get the pick of fourbedroom
homes.
