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Legislative Council - Fifty-Fourth Parliament, Second Session (54-2)
2021-02-02 Daily Xml
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HomeBuilder Grant Applications

The Hon. D.G.E. HOOD (16:02): My question is to the Treasurer. Will the Treasurer update the chamber on the current number of HomeBuilder applications?

The Hon. R.I. LUCAS (Treasurer) (16:03): I'm pleased to be able to report to the council that as of 2 February, this morning at 10.30am, the total number of applications for HomeBuilder is 8,575, of which 5,701 are new builds, 1,203 are off the plan and 1,671 are that new category of substantial renovations. I am also advised that of that number a mere 23 have been applications received post 1 January when, of course, the level of the HomeBuilder grant was reduced from $25,000 to $15,000 for a period of, I think, three months. I think it's a fair indication that most applicants and builders were anxious to get their applications in prior to 31 December, so we might only see modest further increases in terms of the total number of applications.

I remind members that the federal government's original estimate in terms of South Australia's share of the total number of grants they thought when they brought the scheme in was around about 1,800, and we now have 8,575. I must admit it was our view, and the South Australian Treasury's view, that the 1,800 original estimate was a massive underestimate, but I must confess I had no comprehension at all that the total number of applications would be as high and as significant as 8,575.

It is placing considerable pressure on the residential housing sector. It is fair to say that it is going gangbusters; every builder capable of building a new home or substantial renovation is actively engaged. There is a paucity of skilled employees and tradies within the industry, and anyone seeking to get a carpenter or electrician or the like for something other than one of these applications will struggle over the coming weeks and months.

The industry is estimating to me that at the very least we are likely to see significant building activity right through until the end of 2021, some are even indicating an overflow of housing activity through to early 2022. We are already seeing some signs of shortages of building materials, of timber and the like, and those particular companies and businesses, in terms of sourcing building supplies, are having to crank up supply chains to be able to meet the demand.

There are some stakeholder organisations that have already canvassed the view, with the federal government, that the federal government may well want to contemplate further extending not the application period for the grants but the period within which the construction can commence. I understand the federal government's position is that they would not want to see any delay in terms of the stimulus activity, but I think we are getting pretty close to having enough evidence to demonstrate to the federal government that that is highly unlikely.

It may well be in the best interests of industry and jobs and the viability of the building sector in South Australia, in terms of the quality of the product produced for new home owners, that there be some levelling out of that peak demand we are seeing in terms of applications under HomeBuilder. I have a degree of sympathy and I am prepared to wait for a little further evidence in relation to the staging and capacity of our building industry to meet the demand, but as I said there are already some stakeholder organisations calling on the federal government to consider this.

As I said, I have some sympathy for that, and I encourage the federal government to at least consider whether or not it makes sense to help level out that demand over a slightly longer period of time to ensure the quality of the work and the capacity for suppliers to the industry to be able to keep up with demand, even if it means this peak stretches through to early 2022.

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