State Budget will help us build more homes – but later rather than sooner

11 June 2024

Today’s State Budget commits billions of dollars towards tackling Queensland’s housing crisis – but fails to trigger levers that could provide immediate relief without costing a cent.

The issues exacerbating the crisis from the perspective of the building and construction industry are well documented – and show no signs of abating. These include the skilled labour shortage, a 40 per cent jump in building costs over the last three years, and an avalanche of regulatory change including those under the National Construction Code (NCC) 2022.

The government’s commitment to deliver what it calls ‘Queensland’s biggest decade of infrastructure investment’ will see $107 billion splashed across the next four years, placing more pressure on an industry already struggling to deliver the homes and infrastructure our communities need, and again driving up construction costs in the face of trade shortages and falling productivity.

“The Budget highlights that these cost hikes have hit the government’s own projects to the tune of $2bn over two years,” Master Builders CEO Paul Bidwell said.

“There is action the State Government can take right now to turn this around. We need the Best Practice Industry Conditions applied more flexibly, to ensure government projects over $100 million and large high-rise unit developments can be delivered more affordably.

“A common misconception is that this means we want to cut corners or rush jobs to get homes built faster, which naturally heightens fears around reduced building quality, and workers’ safety being placed at risk. Nothing could be further from the truth.

“We share the Miles Government’s goal of delivering more homes, sooner, and more affordably – and we do welcome the Budget measures to address the existing crisis.

“We support the increase of the Stamp Duty threshold for first homeowners to $700,000, and the first home vacant land concession threshold rising to $350,000.

“However, this initiative, as well as the First Home Owner Grant, which was doubled last year and has a cap of $750,000 for house and land packages, are both too low, potentially excluding first home buyers in some areas.

“The Budget commitment of $2.8bn for 600 new modular homes is also a step ahead. This could also be taken further by investing some of the government’s significant take from Stamp Duty, into supporting locally manufactured building components such as wall systems, and floor and roof cassettes. This would help slash construction timeframes and help us build more homes faster.

“Queensland’s strong regional footprint also delivers an opportunity for our state to lead on this agenda, creating jobs and building more homes off the back of the federal government’s Advanced Manufacturing Program.

“We’ve welcomed the government’s commitment to expand fee-free vocational training, plus the $1000 cashback on tools for first-year apprentices. However, this Budget fails to offer any financial support for businesses, many of them small and family-owned, who need to pay their apprentices’ wages while they’re studying and provide crucial on-site training as they learn the ropes.

“We are also doubling down on our advocacy on rolling back red tape. While the Budget was not the place to deliver on change to laws and regulations, we are concerned the government has continued to ignore our calls on this issue.

“We need to roll back the unwarranted changes in NCC 2022, and scrap project trust accounts which, to be frank, do not work.

“We remain committed to working with the State Government to find workable measures to address the housing crisis, right now, and in the longer term. Let’s get on with it.”

Read our Home Truths.

ENDS