NT Housing and Homelands Minister Selena Uibo has conceded the Fyles Government will not have built enough remote bedrooms by the deadline under its agreement with the federal government for the National Remote Housing Partnership NT.

Ms Uibo told Budget Estimates that at March 30, NT government had built just 1,253 bedrooms but it had agreed to a target of 1,950 bedrooms by June 30, under a five year agreement, but would only be able to build 1,577, recording a shortfall of 20 per cent.

“Although on paper our national partnership in the Northern Territory began on July 1, 2018, there was more than a 12-month delay in regards to the approval to the initial capital works plan, and the first payment of the agreement,” she said.

“So the Australian government’s contribution did not commence until we were well into the 2019-20 financial year, which resulted in the delivery of the agreement being truncated to less than four years, as opposed to five.”

Funding for the NRHPNT was made up of $550 million in federal money and $1.4 billion of NT money.

The Fyles Government recently said it was close to a new agreement with the federal government promising $223.4 million to build 157 new homes in remote communities over the next year.

The NT will also receive an extra $50 million of social housing funds from the federal government, part of the Albanese Government’s $2 billion social housing accelerator fund aimed at providing states and territories cash to accelerate the delivery of new homes across the country.

Ms Uibo said the additional money would be used to build about 100 new homes in urban and remote areas.