Building Bonus: WA consumers breathe a sigh of relief

HIA has welcomed the McGowan Government’s changes to the Building Bonus scheme to extend on-site start times to 12 months after signing a building contract.

“This sensible move will smooth out the workflow in a win for consumers, jobs and business,” HIA WA Executive Director Cath Hart said today.

“It takes pressure off consumers who were concerned they’d miss out on their grant through no fault of their builder because of shortages of titled land and labour, and delays in lending and local government.

“Construction work across all sectors is drawing from the same workforce, so today’s decision is common sense and will especially help ease infrastructure-related labour shortages.

“The response to the Building Bonus exceeded expectations and was a green light for confidence in WA so it’s clever policy to spread that extra economic benefit well into 2022.

“The scheme was announced during Phase 2 restrictions to protect jobs and support recovery, but it has become clear that it will also play an important role in the next phase of WA’s post-COVID recovery.

“HIA has been making the case for an extension to the required start times so industry can deliver for consumers while dealing with the challenges of going from an historic low to an historic high basically overnight.

“The decision today recognises those challenges, particularly the huge demand for workers in construction and infrastructure.

“We are confident industry will be able to deliver grant related projects in the required timeframe without further extension beyond the 12 months.

“We hope to see a similar extension now to the federal HomeBuilder scheme as well.”

For more information, please contact:
HIA WA Executive Director Cath Hart 0409 680 880
HIA WA Media Adviser Madeleine Palm 0432 637 002

This media release was prepared and published by Housing Industry Association (HIA) on 20 October 2020 and can be viewed in full here.

^Eligibility Criteria Applies. Eligibility is at the discretion of State and/or Federal Government, and is not the responsibility of the builder. Please refer to the relevant State & Federal Government media statements here,  and WA State Government information here.