Building industry calls for housing supply boost

Australia’s top construction lobby is calling on state and territory governments to release more land to boost housing supply.

A spokesperson for Master Builders Australia said the Federal Government should incentivise states and territories by offering financial payments to those who help increase supply as well as implement planning and tax reform on new homes.

It also wants the Commonwealth to redirect development taxes towards social and affordable housing and double the housing fund from $10 billion to $20 billion.

“The Federal budget is being formulated against a difficult economic backdrop,” MBA CEO Denita Wawn said.

“While this represents a challenge, it also provides a real opportunity for bold budgetary reform to be advanced and for businesses to be unshackled.”

Ms Wawn is calling for a rolling pipeline of infrastructure projects over the next decade, the cutting of red tape and further measures to address workforce shortages in the industry.

“At present builders are facing a shortage of key tradespeople as well as bottlenecks in the market for key building materials,” she said.

“At times of economic difficulty, private sector demand can make the vital difference and our industry has much to offer in this respect.”

Improving education standards in secondary schools, a new apprenticeship take up and retention strategy, increasing the permanent skills visa cap to at least 200,000 and expanding visa eligibility have all been flagged by the peak body.

– BY DOMINIC GIANNINI/ AAP