2020 CEO Survey: Steve McCann, Lendlease

We need to understand the strengths and weaknesses of Australia’s economies and look for opportunities that will emerge, says Lendlease chief Steve McCann.

LendLease CEO Steve McCann. Picture: John Feder for The Australian

What are the three enduring lessons or changes to flow from COVID-19?

Governments around the world acted swiftly with significant stimulus in multiple markets to support their local economies. As this stimulus begins to wind down or end, we need to understand the strengths and weaknesses of the underlying economies and look for opportunities that will emerge.

A trend that is already emerging globally is a shift away from home ownership towards renting. This will be particularly apparent at the lower end of the socio-economic spectrum and is leading to governments – including in Victoria and New South Wales – launching a raft of social and affordable housing measures. Equally, governments are likely to and certainly should look at ways to relax the regulatory backdrop to encourage more investors to buy residential stock to offer for rent.

For office-based workers, the speed of a return to a “new normal” office environment will be influenced by how the pandemic is being managed in each location. We will be encouraging people back to the office where we can in 2021 to ensure we are not losing some of the benefits of collaboration and social interaction that are widely recognised in driving creativity and innovation. That said, the stigma on workplace flexibility may have been permanently removed and we do expect the office sector to evolve significantly to accommodate that shift.

How would you rate the shape of the Australian economy as we head into the new year?

In Australia, we are very fortunate to be managing through the pandemic better than most of the world and hopefully that translates into business and consumer confidence. Capital is readily accessible and government stimulus spending is expected to drive a faster recovery.

Capital is readily accessible and government stimulus spending is expected to drive a faster recovery.

What reforms are needed to sustainably grow the economy?

Governments are likely to and certainly should look at ways to relax the regulatory backdrop to encourage both first home buyers to enter the market as well as investors to buy residential stock to offer for rent.

What are the best growth opportunities for your company in 2021?

We have thought a lot about the impact of Covid-19 on our urbanisation strategy and we are confident it is very robust. While we are clearly going to experience reduced immigration in the short term – and there will be some temporary and permanent changes to the way people work – there remains no doubt that gateway cities will continue to provide the greatest opportunities.

We now have a $113b development pipeline globally. We are aiming to accelerate production through this pipeline, almost doubling from $4.3b to $8b per annum over time.

What impact will digital transformation have on your company?

We believe there is significant cost reduction potential from the digitisation of both development and construction as well as benefits in terms of customers experience, safety and sustainability.

How would you rate business, State and Federal Government performance this year?

We should be very proud of our political leaders who acted decisively to navigate us through this crisis.