THE “critical” shortage of building materials in north-west Victoria is set to worsen over the next few months and further drive up the cost of new homes, an industry leader has warned.
Master Builders Victoria (MBV) chief executive Rebecca Casson this week predicted the global supplies crisis could drag on another year, causing lengthy building delays.
“With a pipeline of new homes still to be built and international borders not expected to reopen for a while, this issue may continue for the next six to 12 months,” Ms Casson told Sunraysia Daily.
“The reality is that delays are unavoidable and will need to be factored into build times.
“We urge our members to work closely with clients to discuss alternative timeframes and we also strongly advise customers to plan for price increases.”
Builders have reported the wait time for frame and trusses has blown out from four to 16 weeks, and delays for windows are out to eight weeks from the normal four weeks.
Other major delays are for mesh and pods (two weeks to six weeks) and brick deliveries are now taking up to two weeks longer than normal, while the shortage of timber is already significantly impacting businesses and project delivery.
Ms Casson said the cost of timber had increased by as much as 50 per cent this year.
“It is important to note that while there is a limited amount of timber at present, demand is still not expected to peak for another few months due to unprecedented housing demand in the United States,” she said.
The dire warning comes amid a cooling of building approvals in the Mildura local government area (LGA).
The Australian Bureau of Statistics’ latest data shows that 363 new local houses were approved in the 11 months to the end of May, the majority in Mildura South and Irymple.
While it is slightly up on the long-term average, there are signs of a tapering off in demand for new houses.
There were 20 new dwellings approved in May, well down from April (54) and March (51).
In the Wentworth LGA, 84 new dwellings were approved in the 11 months to the end of May.
There were just four approvals in May, down from a high of 13 in March.
“The international supply chains constraints were unforeseen, and these are now having a critical impact on our industry, which may adversely affect the broader Australian economy – including housing affordability – if not addressed,” Ms Casson said.
Builder Josh Dawson, of JD Construction Mildura, recently said he saw “the writing on the wall last year” for the building materials shortage.
“It’s been our busiest period on record since we started the business nearly 10 years ago, but it’s also been our most challenging,” Mr Dawson said.
