Fergus Builders warn industry bottlenecks halt Mackay, Whitsunday housing supply

While Mackay and Whitsundays saw housing approvals double over the past year, but residents are left waiting to collect their keys as builders issue a warning.

Despite a surge in housing approvals in the region, some houses remain dormant as builders experience bottlenecks in the industry. Picture: Rae Wilson

A longer than usual wet season tied in with a workforce shortage have halted housing builds in the region despite Mackay and Whitsundays experiencing a state leading surge in approvals.

Despite housing approvals in Mackay and the Whitsundays increasing by more than 100 per cent from last year, industry leaders say a bottleneck of projects, often waiting for a final paint job or tiling, have been sitting dormant.

Residential Manager at Fergus Builders Amanda Wilson said her company had experienced a shortage in painters and tilers and it was having an effect on housing supply in Mackay.

Residential Manager of Fergus Builders Amanda Wilson said an extended monsoonal season together with a workforce shortage has resulted in industry bottlenecks. Photo: Supplied

“There’s been a bottleneck of work that has caused the shortage right at this minute due to the extended wet season that we’ve had this year,” she said.

“It basically brought about a halt in work which then brought all the jobs up to a very similar stage which has then created a shortage in trades to finish the homes off.”

The arrival of this year’s monsoonal season, according to meteorological data from Darwin Airport, was the latest on record extending well in March in Mackay.

It comes as Housing Industry Australia warns North Queensland would need to increase building supply to meet record approvals in the region and a surge in population.

There were 387 building approvals between May 2024 and April 2025 in Mackay with a 102.1 per cent increase in building approvals in the last year, compared to a 29 per cent increase in Townsville.

The development approvals have followed a number of local council initiatives such as increasing the maximum concession value of infrastructure charges and updating their Facilitating Development Plan to expand the applicable land uses in the Mackay Waterfront PDA area.

So far, council has approved 18 applications for concessions on multi dwelling developments since 2016 with 10 approved since concessions were increased to 100 per cent in 2023.

But despite this, HIA said North Queensland is forecast to have a shortfall of 1500 homes by 2029 with 5,300 homes required to match demand in the region.

Up to 5,300 homes required are required by 2029 in North Queensland to keep up with supply. Photos: iStock

Vacancy rates remain below one per cent in the Mackay

“There needs to be more quality tradesman brought into the area,” Ms Wilson said.

“The issue is probably just having people on the ground, contractors, the right staff members and tradesman.”

While Fergus builders have managed to weather the stagnant building climate, some haven’t been so lucky.

“There have been a few builders who have gone under,” she said.

“Traditionally you never say no to a job. That was a huge risk that they took when they introduced the grants during Covid, but obviously they were committed at a price that wasn’t profitable.”