Home building timeframes return to pre-COVID levels as Roger Cook hails return to ‘stability’ for industry

Premier Roger Cook has hailed a return to stability in the residential construction industry with building timeframes returning to their pre-COVID baseline following years of turbulence. Generous State and Federal grants in the early days of the pandemic spurred a massive surge in demand for home builds, overwhelming an ill-prepared sector and creating a backlog that is still being worked through nearly five years later. The situation has driven hundreds of West Australian families to the brink of financial ruin as they struggle to pay both rent and the mortgage on their unfinished home. On Monday, Mr Cook unveiled a loosening of requirements for a $10 million government-backed loan scheme designed to help builders complete stalled COVID-era projects. The Premier said the rapid price escalations that rendered many projects unviable for builders within months of a contract being signed were finally in the past. “I think we’re seeing much more stability in the market today,” Mr Cook said. “You’ve seen stability in prices. You’ve seen those workforce shortages overcome. Supply constraints have now been addressed, and you’re seeing much more sustainable progress in the industry.” Housing Industry Association executive director Michael McGowan said the backlog of unfinished homes was “definitely clearing” and West Australians could now sign up for new home builds with confidence. “What we’re seeing at the moment is that those volume of (new) houses coming through are being completed in a more pre-COVID timeline than what we’ve seen over the course of the last two or three years. “Your standard 3x2 or 4x2 is back around the 12-month mark from the time you’re laying the slab to the time that the person’s getting into their home. “Obviously there’s variations on that depending on where and when, but it’s much faster than what we were seeing over the course of the last two or three years.” The number of annual commencements had settled around 18,000, up from around 13,500 in the year prior to the pandemic. “Because of the demand for housing at the moment, the number of homes coming into the pipeline is just as many as we’re finishing,” Mr McGowan said. “So overall, that number looks like it’s pretty consistent . . . but we are starting to see those completion numbers really ramp up.” The HIA has previously called for 30 per cent of WA’s 10,000 State-nominated worker visas for 2024-25 to be quarantined for tradies. Mr Cook said he had not contemplated “the idea of quarantining (visas) for the construction industry” but that attracting overseas tradies to WA — as well as training locals — remained a focus. “Now more than ever is the time to secure a place in an apprenticeship,” he said. “Into the future, we’ll see a significant expansion of the building and construction industry, whether it’s residential construction, civil construction, infrastructure construction — there’s so many opportunities out there.” The HIA has estimated WA needs to increase the number of homes it builds each year to between 22,000 and 25,000 “just to meet current demand”. The peak body believes bringing 3000 additional tradies online — including carpenters, electricians, plumbers and bricklayers — would allow the sector to complete an additional 3000 houses per year.