Interview with Tony Moclair, 3AW

Event: Interview with Tony Moclair, 3AW

Date: 21 October 2025, 12.10pm AEDT
Speakers: Denita Wawn, CEO Master Builders Australia
Topics: Time to build data

E&OE

Tony Moclair, 3AW: Joining me on the line now is Denita Wawn, Chief Executive of Master Builders Australia. Good afternoon Denita.

Denita Wawn CEO Master Builders Australia: Afternoon Tony.

Host: Now this does say something very positive in the data, as you said, real and tangible. What does that? What do we put that down to?

Denita: Well, we’re hoping for a number of things. First, that we’re seeing some greater, you know, shorter timeframes when it comes to getting approvals through our councils and so forth, but also that there’s an uptick a little bit at the moment. We hear on the ground that there is slightly easier access to skilled trades people. It takes 40 trades to build a home and if you are not able to get access to them and sink that all in from a project management perspective day after day, then it can really expand out that time to complete a home.

Host: Okay, are those trainees coming from immigration, or is it just that local schools and colleges are churning them out at a rate that can make home construction times shorter?

Denita: Well, unfortunately, we’re not getting any more trade qualified apprentices through the system. That is something that is a work in progress, but what we are finding is we’re seeing cost of living constraints, less people, unfortunately, proceeding with new builds or renovations, and so therefore the supply of trades is a little less constrained. But we do know that there is massive demand for new building, and as soon as we start seeing a decline in the cost of building, remembering 40% increase in the cost of building since covid, once that starts declining a little bit, we will see demand ratchet back up for trades and then our concern is, does that mean then we see a blowout again of these completion times. So, it means that, yes, it’s good news, but we can’t rest on our laurels, and we’ve still got to make sure that we have enough people and that the system is being as responsive as it can be in terms of approvals and so forth.

Host: So, if you were planning to build a house or renovate a house, would you be confident that it would be done on time, with no supply chain issues dragging out the whole process?

Denita: Materials are not so much as big as an issue at the moment, and it’s more around the turnaround of approvals at council and government level and/ or getting the right skilled people. But certainly, what we’re seeing is that the data that we’ve just got is that things are taking a little bit more quickly to complete, and therefore it gives a greater level of certainty for an individual or a family going ahead with a contract. The builder, of course, is the one that is required to comply with the contract, including completion times. It’s a fixed price contract for resi building and they are, of course, accepting all the risks associated with delays and increased costs and so forth, but there is some levels of green shoot, certainly in Victoria, more than other states, when it comes to shortened completion times, which should give the people thinking about entering into a contract a greater level of certainty, as opposed to some of those blowout times that, of course, then increases cost of renting the property while you’re waiting for your new home to be built and so forth.

Host: You mentioned some of the factors that are going into influencing the availability of new housing stock. What about interest rates in all of that?

Denita: Yeah, certainly we see that whenever there is an interest rate cut, people factor that in, in terms of costs of building, and we see a greater level of people coming through things like display homes and so forth. So, there is always an increased level of interest in new builds whenever interest rates are cut. It would be great, wouldn’t it, to see another interest rate cut next month, and certainly that decreases those costs of building but equally, we’ve got to make sure that we as an industry have enough people and that governments are turning over applications of approvals as quickly as possible, because in our game, time is money, and we can keep a declining cost, or at least stabilising costs if we have surety of people and processes.

Host: Well, that’s tangentially related to what I want to talk to you about as the last question, Denita this afternoon. The National Housing accord, which is the plan to build, I think 1.2 million houses, is the compression of time it takes now to build a house going to mean that the lofty and many would argue, completely unachievable goal, is somewhat more achievable?

Denita: We’re far more positive than others at the moment, when it comes to the 1.2 million, we’re a signatory to that accord. Our latest forecast suggests that the initial 1 million homes over the five-year period will be achieved. The question is whether or not that stretch target of 1.2 million can be. We think it can be, and particularly in Victoria at this stage, suggests that the component of the 1.2 in Victoria can be achieved. But it really depends on three things. One is that we get things approved faster in the system in terms of regulation streamlining. We need to ensure we’ve got adequate number of people, and we also need to ensure we’ve got enabling infrastructure. Builders can’t build homes unless you’ve got storage and water and so forth, and the roads connected, and that includes both greenfields and brownfields, but also we need to ensure that you can actually have the electricity turned on and so forth. These are the three factors that will be absolutely critical to meeting that 1.2. We still say it can be done, so long as everyone is focused on improving productivity and reducing costs.

Host: Well, two thumbs up to that, thank you for that. Denita Wawn, Chief Executive of Master Builders Australia.

Media contact:
Dee Zegarac
National Director, External Affairs and Engagement
0400 493 071
dee.zegarac@masterbuilders.com.au