An innovative, modular housing product aims to get more homes built in regional areas, with the potential to progress a house from slab to lockup in a fortnight.

Under a trial being run by the Office for Regional Housing, six houses are being built in Ceduna using easy-to-assemble, high-quality, environmentally friendly modular panels.

Local indigenous-owned builder RJ Scott has constructed the homes using SipForm, which are structural insulated panels manufactured in Perth.

The panels are made of two sheets of hard-wearing material on either side of high-density insulating foam, resulting in high quality contemporary housing with 7-star environmental performance that can be built quickly, without relying on hard-to-source trades.

Panels are individually manufactured to builder specifications, with provisions for doors and windows, then delivered to site for assembly.

After civil works and slabs were completed in late 2024, work to erect walls and roof trusses for the first two houses started in early February and were complete two weeks later.

“What has impressed me most about SipForm is the structural integrity of the panels and the ease of the install,” said Rohan Scott, Owner of RJ Scott Building.

“For example, a 150m2 dwelling [building structure] takes approximately two and half days to complete. This essentially also includes the internal and external wall linings and insulation.

“The ease of construction also reduces the need of specialist trades who can be hard to find in regional areas.”

Matt Hunt, Director of Renewal SA’s Office for Regional Housing, said combating housing and worker shortages in the regions required innovative ideas.

“Regional housing is indeed a challenge, particularly in towns some distance away from the city,” Mr Hunt said.

“We think we’ve landed on a solution that provides quality, ease of supply, and can be installed quickly without needing to heavily rely on hard to source tradespeople.”

Ceduna is almost 800km from Adelaide and like most of the country, is short on trades and short on places to live, he said.

“Traditional brick-and-mortar builds sometimes take years and are burdened by exorbitant delivery fees and supply shortages,” Mr Hunt said.

“We have been looking at options to bypass some of the supply issues associated with getting houses built in the regions for some time, and we are pleased to now be progressing with what could be a great solution for the future.”

“After the usual footing and slab works were completed, we saw entire house structures erected in a matter of days,” he said.

The proposed use of SipForm to build the houses came after the Office for Regional Housing released a tender seeking a construction partner to deliver dwellings in the area under the Regional Key Worker Housing Scheme (RKWHS), which builds homes for key government workers across the state.

The tender encouraged bids from housing providers who offered solutions in modular, transportable, and MMC (Modern Methods of Construction), as well as traditional home builders, acknowledging the high construction costs and supply chain issues impacting regional South Australia.

The open market process appointed RJ Scott as the successful proponent, which proposed the use of SipForm to build the houses at 80% of the cost of a standard build for the area.
“RJ Scott is a highly experienced local builder, trusted by the Ceduna community to construct houses for the last 23 years,” Mr Hunt said.

RJ Scott worked closely with SipForm, who committed to an extensive training program to ensure workers had the relevant experience to successfully assemble the six homes.
Mr Hunt highlighted the importance of light-touch delivery for housing in the regions, noting the compounding issues that set back mass housing construction.

“We need to deliver more houses in the regions. To do that, we need the tradespeople in the regions to build them. To have the tradespeople in the regions, we need somewhere for them to live.
“This pilot program is well on its way to proving it can play a role in alleviating the issue,” he said

Ben Taylor, Manager of Administration and Finance at the District Council of Ceduna, said housing stock was an issue in attracting workers to the town and welcomed Renewal SA’s intervention through the RKWHS.

“There has been a lack of new housing for both low-income and government workers in our region,” Mr Taylor said.

“Housing shortages have made it hard to attract workers to fill vacancies in key sectors, and in some cases, have made residents consider moving to more populated towns, supported by better healthcare and more resourced schools.”

Once the six houses are finished, they will be home to essential workers in healthcare and education under the RKWHS.

“Without initiatives like the RKWHS, it would be difficult to ensure growth in housing supply in Ceduna due to the significant capital costs associated with construction in remote locations, compared to the return on investment,” Mr Taylor added.

Mr Taylor has also welcomed the use of SipForm to build the houses and believes it can play a role in the future of regional housing development.

“Once more builders become aware of this construction concept and the speed at which houses could be built, I hope it will be considered to help deliver much-needed housing into regional locations.”

Already, 13 houses have been completed under the RKWHS in Port Augusta, Mount Gambier, and Renmark.

The program announced by the Office for Regional Housing in 2024 will continue to deliver homes in regional towns until all 30 under the pilot are completed, which Mr Hunt hopes to be by September this year.

“We are progressing with the delivery of homes for key workers right across the state, and our pilot program should be complete by quarter three.”

Renewal SA expects the Ceduna houses will be complete by September 2025 and is currently considering an expansion of the RKWHS that includes the use of quick-to-build modular products.