The Productivity Commission has highlighted that excessive red tape is severely impacting the home building sector, urging a complete review of the National Construction Code to boost productivity. According to the latest report, building times have increased significantly, with detached homes taking over 10 months to complete—up from just 6.4 months a decade ago.

Key findings include:

• 53% drop in productivity since 1995 in the home building sector.
• Build times for detached houses, townhouses, and apartments have all increased by months.
• Factors slowing construction: sluggish approvals, lack of innovation, skills shortages, and NIMBYism.

The Productivity Commission recommends seven areas for reform:

• Streamlining planning approvals and improving regulatory coordination.
• Overhauling the National Construction Code and removing red tape on new building methods like prefabrication.
• Providing government-funded advice on innovation and boosting workforce flexibility.

Master Builders Australia (MBA) supports these recommendations, stressing that improving productivity is crucial to addressing Australia’s housing crisis. MBA CEO Denita Wawn emphasised, “Every day we drag our heels on tackling these challenges, the housing crisis gets longer.”