Building Approvals Remain at All-Time Lows
The latest figures released from the Australian Bureau of Statistics, has showed 24.8% rebound on the figures for May this year. Now this comes directly after the 47.2% fall in Approval the month before after the introduction of the state’s new building act.
The new building act was made available to Perth Builders on October 2011 and the regulations came out in late December 2011 so the builders have had plenty of time to get their heads around it. What has made this new process a little more difficult is that most shires did not know until March 2012 how this would affect them! What is interesting is this again demonstrates the reactive nature many Perth builders and shires have to the industry changes. Some builders do a lot of homework up front and others who build more than 500 homes a year do nothing.
So it’s very unfair to blame all of the delays on the Building commission, and the state government; Builders need to be proactive and not reactive. What the industry needs is for all parties to provide consumer confidence. That said NHBB understand that Gino Basto from Content living and Anthony Kinder from Wilson & Hart have done an enormous amount of work to provide the commission statistics on how this is really affecting the industry. NHBB doesn’t agree with a media release by the state government saying they have fixed the problem.
NHBB are all for the task force to come in and make adjustments to get this new process perfect, however we argue it is unreasonable if you really have a look at the figures hold the recently introduced regulatory changes entirely accountable for the significant slowdown in the Perth residential building industry .
Look at the amount of sales made in the month prior to the change, it’s the biggest spike we have had in over 12 months, this has come about by the sales reps using the beat the building commissions changes close on people. Now the builders are dealing with a massive bubble in the admin systems and also buyer’s remorse. This can be reflecting in the fall over rate from builders increasing in the coming weeks after this. They cannot blame this on the new changes as these new deals have not even made it to the share yet.
Perth Builder’s resources perhaps could be more effectively invested by improving and increasing training for their sales teams.
Tristan Kirkham & Michael Clark.
About the Author
Tristan Kirkham | Managing Director
Tristan has managed some of Australia’s major building companies, both project and private. His committment to customer service and providing market leading communication product for the home building industry has led to a role as regular Judge in the HIA Green Smart, HIA Kitchen & Bathroom Awards and the major Housing Awards. Winning multiple awards throughout his career in the housing industry, he is dedicated to improving the industry standards and practices. Tristan's vision is to provide a better way to build homes for all parties.