For Pintupi man Ashley Spencer, it's been a 15-year wait for a home.
"Nothing, didn't happen," he said.
"And then, waiting too long."
But this week, he and partner Jeannie Bruno — along with their dog Sugar — have finally been handed the keys to their new home.
It's the milestone end to years of living in derelict and overcrowded conditions in their remote community of Kintore, 530 kilometres west of Alice Springs.
"I feel really happy," Mr Spencer said.
Sitting on his new verandah and gazing out at the red-dirt landscape, he says he hopes it will be a home to last a lifetime.
But there are growing concerns this house is one of many being built in haste across struggling remote outback communities to meet a deadline — not to last.
Race to meet housing targets
The houses have been constructed as part of the Northern Territory government's 10-year, $2.1 billion Remote Housing Program.
It's been touted repeatedly as a record investment to boost housing in remote areas that are plagued by chronic overcrowding and dilapidated conditions.
The plan includes a $550 million contribution from the federal government over five years.
But the funding hinges on the NT government constructing or upgrading almost 2,000 bedrooms across remote communities by June 2023.
Earlier this year, it was predicted it would miss this deadline, as data showed it had only completed 448 federally funded bedrooms — not a quarter of the target.
The NT government admitted land servicing requirements, COVID lockdowns and ongoing construction pressures slowed progress.
In fact, it now claims it won't just meet this goal but will exceed it, aiming to complete an additional 1,000 bedrooms by the cut-off date.
"We are on track and the increased number of bedrooms that are now being delivered across the territory is hitting close to what the predicted time frame would be for this time of year," said Minister for Housing and Homelands Selena Uibo in Kintore this week.
Concerns homes not built to last
Aboriginal Housing NT chief executive Skye Thompson said the surge in delivery was only possible because the government switched to building pre-fabricated houses.
"This is a concern," she said.
"We want to have sustainable housing for remote communities.
"Rolling out these demountable-type houses will be problematic in the long-term."
CLP Member for Namatjira Bill Yan said the pivot also meant houses were being built in towns and shipped out to communities.
"It's great we're seeing those houses being built, but it's not creating that employment and those opportunities out in the bush that the program was supposed to deliver," he said.
"The government were really slow out of the blocks when the program was announced. Their excuses were they had to make sure that there was significant levels of Aboriginal employment in the program.
"And of course, now they're rushing to deliver it."
Homes built with community in mind
The NT government said 42 per cent of new homes built as of September 30 this year were modular, while the remainder were block-work and non-modular.
They said all homes built under the remote housing program had a life expectancy of more than 30 years, and had gone through "rigorous testing".
The government also claimed modular homes had many benefits, in that works could continue throughout the year without delays due to weather, supply of materials or workforce.
Ms Uibo said the construction of modular homes came after community consultation, and considered the speed at which the communities want their houses delivered.
"A lot of communities have opted for the modular style," she said.
She said the location of the dwellings was also taken into account.
"For flood-inundated areas, modular is the preference because they can be built off the ground," Ms Uibo said.
"The preference for water-stressed communities is for modular-style dwellings as opposed to block."
Remote rent framework adds anxiety
Despite the delivery surge, there are concerns governments will never be able to catch up with the desperate need for more remote housing as demand continues to grow exponentially.
Ms Thompson said the long-term goal was to empower Aboriginal communities to regain control of their own housing.
"It's not going to happen overnight, but it's something we're working towards," she said.
There are also concerns that even when housing is delivered that residents won't be able to afford rent.
The controversial Remote Rent Framework, set to be implemented in February next year, will see tenants charged per room, rather than based on their income.
Some experts believe this could see rent increase up to 80 per cent for some already vulnerable Central Australian tenants.
The NT government has promised to help tenants who are struggling to pay rent by including a "safety net" provision, where residents may be charged 25 per cent of their housing income for a limited time.
"But if a household isn't identified to have the safety net, they're going to fall through the cracks and have rent stress," Ms Thompson said.
"And the costs on remote communities are already extremely high."
