The nation’s forestry and timber industry can help build 50,000 much needed new homes annually with climate friendly timber and wood, but we need a strong and stable construction sector to achieve that, according to Australian Forest Products Association CEO Diana Hallam. Source: Timberbiz
Today’s Federal Budget revealed a $6.2 billion spend for new housing, this adds to the $11 billion housing measures already announced.
“In the five years from this July, we aim to build 1.2 million of them. Our goal is ambitious but achievable, if we all work together and if we all do our bit,” Dr Chalmers said in his budget speech.
“[The] $6.2 billion in new investments mean our $32 billion Home for Australia plan will clear local infrastructure bottlenecks, provide more housing for students, fund more social and affordable housing, and we will also deliver better transport for better access to suburbs, cities and regions.”
Included in the investment is an extra $1 billion for the states and territories to deliver new housing infrastructure and almost $89 million for construction workforce training.
Data from AFPA and Master Builders Australia (MBA) shows from the height of the COVID pandemic until early 2024, domestic timber sales have fallen more than 500,000m³ – meaning industry has capacity for 50,000 more homes annually. This is extremely significant given MBA has forecast Australia will fall 110,000 homes short of the Federal Government’s 1.2 million homes target by 2029.
“Industry has product on the shelf ready to construct the new and climate friendly homes of tomorrow and capacity to produce more, but we need a range of different actions to get the housing construction sector moving so we can realise our goal. With the right economic conditions and regulatory settings, we can make it happen,” Ms Hallam said.
A range of different actions are needed to help realise 50,000 extra homes, including:
- De-risking finance for building new homes
- Cutting red tape for building approvals to encourage more timber in construction
- Relocation stamp duty exemptions
- Encouraging greater take-up of modular and prefabricated timber dwellings with specifications that allow for economic builds and faster building approvals
- Providing measures to workforce capacity including, incentivised apprenticeship programs, immigration visas and upskilling/retraining current workforces
“When it comes to timber, it’s not a materials supply issue,” Master Builders CEO Denita Wawn said.
“The timber industry has signalled it has product ready to meet housing construction needs, with annual capacity for an extra 50,000 new homes.
“We will continue to work with the Federal Government on ensuring policy levers are pulling in the right direction to ensure the industry and its supply chains are in the best possible position to achieve the Housing Accord targets,” Ms Wawn said.
