Building approvals continue to head in the wrong direction

New home building approvals continue to move in the wrong direction, declining by 4.6 per cent during September 2023 according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

Master Builders Australia CEO Denita Wawn said both detached house building approvals (-4.0 per cent) and those for higher density homes (-5.8 per cent) dropped back during the month.

“Compared with a year earlier, the total volume of new home building approvals is 20.6 per cent lower.

“Over the past five years, a total of 949,000 new homes have been approved across Australia.

“ Much of this was during times of record low interest rates and exceptional government stimulus.

Master Builders’ forecasts 2023-24 will see home starts decline by 2.1 per cent to around 170,100, well below the 200,000 needed per year to meet population growth.

“Achieving the 1.2 million new homes in five years as envisaged under the Housing Accord will be a huge challenge.

“This is in addition to the existing challenge of reducing the time it takes to build,” Ms Wawn said.

Earlier today Master Builders Australia released analysis which showed during 2022-23, the average build time for detached houses increased from 10.3 months to 11.7 months.

“These unnecessary delays to construction ultimately drive up the cost of building which has already faced inflationary challenges with building product prices and a tight labour market.

“The destructive industrial relations Bill currently before the Parliament will see building costs and delays continue to worsen with increased risk of workplace disputation, reduced productivity and increased labour costs.

“There are fundamental questions governments should be answering before passing legislation: will this address the cost of living or housing crisis, will this keep people businesses open and people employed, will this improve productivity and economic growth? We can’t see a ‘yes’ for any of these questions.

“Getting a home built on time and on budget should be a priority for everyone,” Ms Wawn said.

Media contact: Dee Zegarac, National Director, Media & Public Affairs
0400 493 071 | dee.zegarac@masterbuilders.com.au