{"id":186481,"date":"2024-11-19T17:30:11","date_gmt":"2024-11-19T06:30:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/propertyupdate.com.au\/?p=186481"},"modified":"2024-12-11T17:52:12","modified_gmt":"2024-12-11T06:52:12","slug":"it-shouldnt-take-this-long-to-build-a-home","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/propertyupdate.com.au\/it-shouldnt-take-this-long-to-build-a-home\/","title":{"rendered":"It shouldn\u2019t take this long to build a home"},"content":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s no secret that Australia is struggling to meet the housing demand, but there's a bigger underlying issue that many aren\u2019t talking about: the extended time it takes to build a new home or apartment.<\/p>\n

It's a slow-moving crisis, and data from the Master Builders Association highlights just how far behind we are in our ability to get homes built in a timely manner.<\/p>\n

Why are our builds taking longer?<\/span><\/h2>\n

Looking back 15 years, the average build time for a standalone house was about nine months.<\/p>\n

Fast forward to today, and it\u2019s stretched to a whopping 12.7 months \u2013 a jump of over 40%!<\/p>\n

And that\u2019s just houses.<\/p>\n

\"Average<\/p>\n

For apartments, the time from approval to completion has exploded from an average of 18.5 months to a staggering 33.3 months.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s nearly three years to bring a single apartment building to life, an 80% increase in timeline.<\/p>\n

\"Average<\/p>\n

This blowout isn\u2019t just an inconvenience; it\u2019s a direct factor worsening Australia\u2019s housing shortage.<\/p>\n

Every extra month added to the build process means fewer homes are hitting the market, pushing up demand and, inevitably, prices.<\/p>\n

\"Average<\/p>\n

The factors slowing us down<\/span><\/h2>\n

With all of the advances in building technology, you would think we were building faster, not slower.<\/p>\n

\r\n

<\/div>But according to Master Builders chief executive Denita Wawn, the reasons are complex and there are a few big culprits here.<\/p>\n

Labour shortages, supply chain disruptions, union agreements, and a convoluted regulatory process all play a role.<\/p>\n

Productivity, in fact, has fallen by 18% over the last decade, making the weight of an already strained industry heavier, says Wawn.<\/p>\n

Besides that, bottlenecks in getting necessary certificates, complicated infrastructure requirements, and delays in final approvals\u2014an industry bogged down by inefficiencies.<\/p>\n

Most of these issues are not new, but they partly have been amplified in the last few years because Australia is feeling record-high demand for housing.<\/p>\n

What this means for Australia\u2019s housing market<\/span><\/h2>\n

These long build times mean that even when we have the approvals for new housing, those homes won't be ready for quite some time.<\/p>\n