QLD new build outlook brighter than larger states to south
Migration-fuelled home building in Queensland needs to come with more affordable housing, according to the Housing Industry Association.
HOME building in Queensland is booming on the back of international and interstate migration, according to a new report from the Housing Industry Association.
But the need to build more affordable housing is being hampered by taxes and growing land prices, the HIA says.
“The outlook for new home building in Queensland is brighter than for the larger states to the south,” says HIA Executive Director Michael Roberts.
“Queensland has seen strong population growth, both from overseas and from New South Wales and Victoria, thanks to its relatively more affordable land and numerous employment opportunities.
“It is also creating significant demands for new housing in the coming years.
“The trick is for policymakers to allow the industry to meet this demand.”
Growing land prices in Southeast Queensland illustrates the underlying shortage of shovel ready land and the need for new land to be fast-tracked for residential development.
“In a major global destination like Southeast Queensland, higher density housing development, close to jobs and transport, also needs to do much more heavy lifting, especially with the 2032 Olympics approaching,” explained Mr Roberts.
“Commencements of multi-units in Queensland were down by almost 60 per cent between 2015 and 2019.
“More recent labour shortages and blowouts in the cost of materials and finance, have caused a number of already-approved apartment projects to stall.
“Even medium density development in Queensland has been constrained, even more than in other states, by planning rules that limit the number of units that can be built on a given site, reducing site yields by almost 40 per cent.
“These constraints mean activity in the multi-unit sector isn’t expected to really gain steam until 2025/26.
“There is significant upside potential, especially in this sector, if policymakers address the constraints on the industry.
“This means abolishing the punitive taxes imposed on the very investors that are so crucial to building higher density housing.
“These taxes, which the Queensland government inexplicably elected to increase further in their latest Budget, perversely cost tax revenue in terms of lost construction activity, productivity and economic growth.
“Governments must also ensure sufficient infrastructure to accommodate higher density housing and address local resident and Council objections and obstacles to such development.
“The Australian government must streamline visas for in-demand trades so projects can be completed on time and on budget, otherwise large apartment projects will struggle to even commence.
“As policy currently stands, the kind of home building numbers that would produce markedly more affordable housing in Queensland is not part of our forecasts.”
