22 December 2006
Recent Report Early Christmas Present says Registered Master Builders Federation
Registered Master Builders Federation Chief Executive Pieter Burghout says that the recent Housing and Building Trends
report released by the Department of Building and Housing is an early Christmas present for builders and reinforces the
generally strong position of the building and construction industry for 2007.
The trend in the number of new residential building consents has been increasing since May 2006 – for the year to
October 2006 26,577 consents were issued, comparable to the 26,374 the previous year.
“The value of residential consents has been oscillating around an increasing trend, mostly as a result of increases in
building costs. The value of non-residential building consents follows an upward trend as well, 7 percent higher than it
was in October 2005,” says Mr Burghout.
“Given the time-lag between building consents and work actually being undertaken, early projections at the start of 2007
will be that it is another busy period for the building and construction industry – a very “Merry Christmas” for all
builders,” Mr Burghout says.
Employment levels also are at a record level in the construction industry, up to 188,300 in the September quarter.
“While employment growth will slow in 2007, it’s good to see that the industry now has the numbers of people needed to
keep up with demand, although there remain shortages in a number of key trade areas,” says Mr Burghout.
“This sort of positive environment is exactly what builders would have wanted from Father Christmas! In the lead up to a
busy year – given the voluntary introduction of builder licensing in November 2007 – had the industry been less buoyant,
licensing of practitioners might have scared too many away. As it stands, we can expect a steady uptake of builder
licensing given the strong position of the construction industry – a very useful outcome for the industry as a whole,”
Mr Burghout says.
ENDS