Small wins in building approvals – but red tape maintains its stranglehold on housing

11 October 2024

As the state election countdown clock ticks louder, so too do the calls from the building and construction industry for greater support from all sides of politics to help tackle the housing crisis.

The new building approvals figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) show that demand for new housing is managing to overcome the headwinds to supply in some parts of the state – but the government targets set for Queensland remain out of reach.

Despite a dip in August, Mackay & Whitsunday is leading the pack in the positivity stakes, recording a 71.6 per cent spike in approvals for new housing in the preceding three months.

Gold Coast is the other standout performer, with a strong move up in both detached houses and units (+49.7 per cent) across the three months – the weaker showing for August hopefully a one-off.  Sunshine Coast (+16.3 per cent), Greater Brisbane (+15.4 per cent) Wide Bay (+9.5 per cent) and Central QLD (+16 per cent) also posted positive results over the three-month trend.

Toowoomba (Downs & Western) and Townsville (North QLD) are in the red at -8.2 per cent and -10.6 per cent respectively, as an earlier surge in approvals for units is not maintained.  Approvals for houses in these two regions are increasing.  At -6.1 per cent, Cairns (FNQ) is in the middle of a downturn in approvals for detached houses, but the August numbers are strong, which is encouraging.

The Queensland figures also show some positive signs, with detached houses (+13.2 per cent) and units (+30.7 per cent) performing strongly over the three-month trend.

The 12-month total has risen above 34,000 dwellings (34,380) for the first time this year – but is still a long way short of the 49,000 needed to reach the state’s share of the annual National Housing Accord Target.

“We are just over a fortnight away from the state poll – and we maintain that releasing industry from the red tape that has a stranglehold on housing is a critical step,” Master Builders CEO Paul Bidwell said.

“Since May, we’ve been urging all sides of politics to make this change via our Home Truths 2024 state election campaign.

“Re-examining the changes made to the National Construction Code 2022, particularly the new requirements for accessibility and energy efficiency, is just one lever that can be pulled to provide immediate relief. The goals of the inclusivity and sustainability are important, but they won’t be achieved if they drive up the cost of new housing.

“The experience of builders has been that the energy efficiency changes can add as much as $18,000 to the cost of building a single-storey home, while the livable house requirements can also hike up the cost anywhere between $2,000 and $5,000. That’s enough to make the difference between a new home being delivered or stalling in the planning stages – not great when demand is far outstripping supply.

“To be clear, we’re not calling for a blanket rollback to these requirements – just some very important technical adjustments that will make a huge difference in a contractor’s ability to deliver them in an affordable and efficient way.

“For example, for houses raised off the ground and accessed via a set of stairs, exempt them from the costly requirement of providing step free access into and inside the dwelling. Increase the maximum step for an accessible shower from 5mm to 8mm to allow builders to reconcile it with the equally important waterproofing requirement.  And provide concessions for building raised Queenslander-style homes, which struggle to meet the 7-star energy efficiency requirements as measured in the rigid computer tools.

“Removing the productivity-sapping elements of the government’s own Best Practice Industry Conditions (BPIC), scrapping project trust accounts, implementing a mandatory Queensland Housing Code, and getting the Queensland Building and Construction Commission to work better with and for us, are also important to effect change.

“We’re urging Queenslanders to choose a candidate who is committed to change on housing for the benefit of everyone in our state.”