The West Australian government has made an early state budget announcement of a $560 million investment package to reduce the social housing waiting list.

Housing Minister Colin Holt said the investment would deliver up to 1500 homes, including 1000 that would be built, purchased or leased over the next two years for seniors and families with children on the priority waitlist.

Funding includes $85 million of Department of Housing land, $452 million – including $85.2 million from Royalties for Regions – for housing development, and $23 million in operational costs.

“The focus will be on constructing new homes, augmented by spot-purchasing or pre-purchasing competitively priced dwellings, leasing private rental stock and renewal of existing public housing sites,” Mr Holt said.

The package will support infill development by transforming under-used public housing sites into new housing, some of which would be retained for social housing and some would be sold to the general market.