Builders Hard To Find
Infrastructure projects are driving up home building costs with Industry experts blaming a shortage of labour for the rising costs.
MCG Quantity Surveyors managing director, Mike Mortlock, says about a third of construction companies are reporting labour shortages.
Infrastructure spending is making the problem worse, according to the Reserve Bank of Australia which has warned government-funded road and rail projects are competing for trades and materials.
“Some (residential building) firms report the need to compete with infrastructure projects for materials and labour inputs,” it says.
“Firms have noted that demand is exceeding available capacity across the non-residential construction sector; this is keeping materials and contractor costs elevated.”
The Federal Government has $120 billion worth of infrastructure projects in the pipeline.
Infrastructure Australia warns there is a shortage of 229,000 workers looming across the infrastructure sector, which will add to ongoing cost pressures on everything from steel to quarry rocks, new homes, roads and power generation. Construction costs have risen 27% in the past two years.
