Harry Triguboff calls for construction tsar to stimulate Sydney market

Apartment titan Harry Triguboff has called for an improved relationship with the NSW government saying the Sydney housing market is ‘terribly depressed’.

Apartment titan Harry Triguboff has called for an improved relationship between the construction industry and the NSW government, saying the Sydney housing market is depressed and while he has the capacity to build up to 5000 apartments he can’t see a clear way forward.

“The government should appoint as soon as possible someone who will be in charge of the mess in planning. We need someone in charge who understands planning and Treasury.

“Fixing one without the other is not enough. The market in Sydney is terribly depressed,” Mr Triguboff said in an exclusive interview with The Australian.

The multi-billionaire’s Meriton is building fewer apartments than it was three decades ago, despite the fact NSW is facing a major shortage of housing after the number of apartment starts collapsed by 54 per cent and rents hit record highs.

The veteran developer has long blamed governments for excessive wait times in gaining planning approvals, saying instead of taking four years to gain approval to build an apartment tower it should take six months.

“So far all we hear from the NSW government is they are settling in,” said Mr Triguboff, commenting on the Labor government which came to power on March 25.

“(But) we have to plan. It’s a constant relationship.

“I have not bought anything in Sydney – it does not make sense to buy land in Sydney. It makes sense to buy in Surfers, but Surfers Paradise can’t replace the whole country.”

Mr Triguboff said he had sufficient land to build 4000 to 5000 more apartments across Sydney even though he has not bought any sites in the city for years – a position he has taken because of the tardiness of NSW Planning Department.

Mr Triguboff said that despite minor increases in Sydney house prices the market was depressed because building costs were so high and banks would not lend for building.

“Our banks must give loans for building apartments. They don’t. And outside people charge 15 per cent.

“Builders either don’t build or go broke. And no supply of rental accommodation follows.”

Mr Triguboff said apartment rents had stopped rising.

He estimates they only went up by 7 per cent on pre-Covid figures in Meriton apartments, which are spread through major suburbs from Pagewood to Parramatta across Sydney and the Gold Coast.

“There is big demand to rent because people are afraid to buy.

“Economists say residential prices will come down. But they are going up.

They will go up a lot quicker than expected because there’s no supply. (But) it’s difficult to supply housing, because building costs are so great.”

Mr Triguboff said he met Chris Minns, now the Premier, and Paul Scully, now Planning Minister before the election, but had not met any members of the NSW Labor government since then.

“They are nice guys, they are personable,” he said.

On a brighter note, Mr Triguboff noted that while Brisbane’s market was once very depressed, things were improving.

“Now rents and prices in Brisbane have gone up significantly and they will go up here in Sydney also,” he said.

Originally published as Harry Triguboff calls for construction tsar to stimulate Sydney market