Master Builders Australia (MBA) said the cost of living is impacting housing developments in this country. This statement follows the latest data released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics on the August building approvals and home loans.
Master Builders Australia: High cost of living impacting housing supply
Despite recorded improvements, the association maintains it is insufficient to meet housing supply demands. MBA warned that the government cannot relax and tackling the housing crisis must remain a priority if the industry is to deliver on targets. Denita Wawn, the MBA chief executive officer, said:
Builders and tradies have a big job ahead of them to ensure we can build enough homes to start tackling rental inflation and meeting our Housing Accord objectives. We need to ensure tradies are spending as much time as possible on the tools without unnecessary delays and disruptions.
This body further warned that bureaucratic red tape, such as delayed approvals, high developer charges, and the Industrial Relations Bill, hamstrings progress and economic growth. MBA used new home building approvals statistics as an example.
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This approval rate is 13% lower than last year despite a 7% increase in approvals. Shane Garrett, chief economist at MBA, commented:
The pipeline of higher density home building activity, which is critical to ensuring adequate rental supply, has been weak since even before the pandemic. We still need to see a sustained improvement in the volume of higher density home building in order to relieve inflation which is at 15-year highs.
