Worst year for new home builds in 10 years marks need for action on labour shortages

Experts at Master Builders Australia have warned that low apprenticeship numbers will worsen the nation’s housing crisis if action is not taken immediately.

The warning comes after new Australian Bureau of Statistics data revealed that 2023-24 was the worst year for home building in more than a decade, dropping 8.8 per cent to 158,690 new starts.

“Detached house starts fell by 10.1 per cent, while higher density commencements were down by 6.0 per cent,” said Master Builders Chief Economist Shane Garrett. “If building continues at this pace, we’ll be in for less than 800,000 new home starts over the next five years.”

“This would mean a shortfall of over 400,000 homes compared with the National Housing Accord target.”

The data release, revealing a drop to numbers not seen since 2011-12, coincided with fresh data from the National Centre for Vocational Education Research which showed declines in apprenticeship numbers.

Apprenticeship completions fell 8.6 per cent from 24,545 in the year to March 2023 to 22,420 to March 2024. In the same period, apprenticeship commencements dropped 11.8 per cent from 47,110 to 41,520, and the number of apprentices in training declined 2.2 per cent from 124,280 to 121,530.

Master Builders Australia CEO said the new data painted a concerning picture for Australia’s housing crisis.

“Today’s data releases aren’t unrelated. To bring Australia out of the housing crisis we need to drastically increase the supply of housing,” said Ms Wawn, “and we can’t do that while we’re simultaneously suffering through a labour shortage.’

“Low apprentice numbers reflect a shortage of skilled workers across all trades, and until we’re able to address the challenges facing the future of the workforce, we won’t be able to increase building activity and reduce the impact of supply conditions in the residential building market on Australia’s inflation problem.

“It’s no longer appropriate to call for a return to pre-Covid levels, we need more tradies now than we’ve ever had.

“We urgently need governments to look at solutions to increase the number of tradies, increase the number of apprentices, and help Australian builders increase supply so we can come out the other side of this housing crisis,” Ms Wawn concluded.

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

Master Builders Australia’s “Future of the Workforce: Building and Construction Industry” report, which highlights the growing need for action to increase the workforce, can be viewed in full below.