Editorial: Porter Davis Homes collapse yet another alarming chapter in Queensland’s housing crisis

The collapse of the nation’s 12th largest home builder is yet another alarming chapter in Queensland’s housing crisis and proves why the state government must move quickly to implement real solutions across all forms of construction.

The collapse of the nation’s 12th largest home builder is yet another alarming chapter in Queensland’s housing crisis and proves why the state government must move quickly to implement real solutions.

The real estate industry is certainly reeling – Porter Davis Homes Group is a major player, with 14 companies under its umbrella – and this sounds the alarm for more pain ahead.

But more significantly, it means everyday Queenslanders already struggling during this housing crisis face an uncertain future.

PDH Group had 200 homes currently being built in Queensland.

Earlier this month, The Courier-Mail revealed the rate of homelessness in Queensland surged by 22 per cent since 2017.

This exceeded the national rise in homelessness of 8 per cent.

Porter Davis' Brisbane office and display room was empty on Friday. Source: Glen Norris

It has never been worse – and potentially, there are now 200 Queensland families about to join the thousands of people trying to find a home in an already extremely tight rental market.

A spokesperson for liquidator Grant Thornton Australia blamed the company’s collapse on “rising input costs, supply chain delays (and) labour shortages”.

These are issues that have been plaguing the industry for months, with many experts predicting construction companies across the country will continue to go broke.

This means the Queensland government must forge ahead quickly with its plans to alleviate the state’s housing crisis in the face of the struggles facing the nation’s building industry.

We can’t only rely on new homes being built quickly and affordably.

Last week, it emerged that two social housing developments were sitting idle – with one complex to be delayed nearly a year – and the state government blamed this on the “unprecedented pressure” in the construction industry.

And now, the Cross River Rail project has blown out by $960m because of rising construction costs.

Property developers were this week thrown a slew of tax concessions for build-to-rent and affordable housing projects.

It’s a policy that has merit, and came out of the government’s housing summit which was convened by Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk following The Courier-Mail’s hard-hitting home series.

But there is clearly immense pressure on the building industry, so solutions involving the construction of new homes won’t help in the short term.

The government must continue to strive for solutions that will have an immediate impact, and be alive to the very real issues facing the construction industry.