PHOTO: A demolition underway in Chandos Street, Ashfield in Sydney on July 22, 2016.(Photo by Hugh Peterswald/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images)
As many as 43,000 new homes will not be built in the coming year because of the coronavirus downturn, according to modelling from an industry body.
Master Builders Australia made the grim forecast while calling for government stimulus to come faster.
“The scope and depth of the potential damage to our industry and the economy is devastating,” said Master Builders Australia chief Denita Wawn.
“We previously forecast that there would be around 159,000 new housing commencements in 2020/21. We now expect there to be only around 116,000 – a drop of 27 per cent.”
The amount of new homes required in Australia each year to house population growth is 200,000.
So the pre-coronavirus forecast was already 41,000 short – and now that deficit will blow out to 84,000 homes.
“[The shortfall] means that the impact on housing needs of our community will be severe,” said Wawn.
“What this forecast shows is that stimulus measures cannot wait. Our industry, the economy and the community cannot afford to wait months.”
There are almost 400,000 building firms in the country, with more than 90 per cent working on residential construction, according to Master Builders Australia.
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