Work is finally set to begin to rebuild a Braddon public housing complex which has sat empty for eight years.
Housing Minister Yvette Berry has revealed a contract has been signed with a builder to rebuild the complex.
Tenants were forced out of the Lowanna Street units due to fire safety and construction concerns in 2016.
The units have remained vacant since that time with a legal battle, insurance issues and a development application challenge halting the rebuild.
Ms Berry said ABA Construction had been contracted to rebuild the complex. The new building will have eight two-bedroom units and two one-bedroom units. Construction is set to begin in the coming months.
A development application to rebuild the complex was first lodged three years ago. Ms Berry said it was delayed as the development application had to go before the ACT Civil and Administrative Tribunal.
Ms Berry also said it had taken time to overcome issues around the building's insurance. She expressed disappointment in the circumstances of the build.
"I am very disappointed in the outcomes of this particular incident," she said.
"There were some serious issues around the original build. I am happy to say now, with a range of different legislation and requirements nationally and here across the ACT, those kinds of circumstances will not happen again for any builds.
"Unfortunately, like anyone else in the ACT, Housing ACT fell victim to a build that was not up to standard and certainly not up to the standard for Housing ACT tenants."
There was a legal battle between the ACT government and the builder as they were at odds with how the building's fire rating should be certified.
Multiple reports completed for the ACT government in 2016 and 2017 found several issues with the fire safety of the building, which was built in 2012.
The building company, Bellerive Homes, went into liquidation before the legal battle was completed.
The government received payouts totalling $570,000 by the engineer and certifier but was paid nothing by the builder.
Ms Berry revealed the contract had been signed following questions from the opposition's housing spokesman Mark Parton during the Assembly's question time on Wednesday.
"It has been vacant, sitting empty, derelict and run down for eight years now," he said.
The waiting list for public housing in the ACT is nearly 3200.
The average waiting time for high needs housing is more than three years and for standard housing it's more than five years.
Those needing priority housing wait, on average, 232 days.
An Auditor-General report, released last week, noted there will be a decrease in the number of public housing properties per estimated resident population, despite plans to increase the number of public housing properties.
It will decrease from 28 public housing properties for every 1000 residents in 2018 to 24 public housing properties for every 1000 people in 2027. This is due to population growth.
