Building costs, wait times go through the roof after wild weather

Queenslanders with storm-damaged houses are being warned they could be waiting more than two years for repairs, but it’s not just them who are set to suffer, with the cost of all renovations and new builds expected to skyrocket.

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Queenslanders with storm-damaged houses in the wake of the recent wild weather are being warned they could be waiting in excess of two years for repairs.

The demand for urgent works could also blow out wait times and costs on other residential projects such as renovations and new builds as trades become stretched across the state.

The devastating blowouts come as people unable to live in their severely battered homes say they are “terrified” they will have nowhere to go as they wait for emergency accommodation, with booking agencies “flooded” with requests.

The state has been ravaged by extreme conditions in recent weeks, with record-breaking floods hitting the Far North after Cyclone Jasper, and the southeast battered by waves of severe storms, including a suspected tornado tearing off roofs and cutting power across the Gold Coast on Christmas night.

Most of the houses on the Gold Coast are expected to have power restored by the end of Sunday.

St Vincent de Paul has reported a 50 per cent increase in demand for support across the Gold Coast region and surrounds from Christmas Eve until January 4 compared to same time frame the year before.

Lucie Simmons, Michael Meudell and Jiaya Meudell, 12, have finally secured short-term accommodation. Pics Adam Head

Real estate experts have also warned the increase of people displaced will see the already devastatingly low 1.2 vacancy rate on the Gold Coast plummet further.

Master Builders general manager for building services and licensing Tony Mitchell said the “extensive damage” in both the Gold Coast and the Far North will cause significant delays.

”We saw that in Townsville, which is a very good example, they were still working through rectification in excess of two years after that event in the Townsville region itself,” he said.

“So you can expect that to be the case in Far North Queensland, I think they will experience the same thing and the Gold Coast – the extent of damage is enormous. So I anticipate that we’re going to see the situation where people are waiting for actual tradespeople to be available to assist them with rectification.”

Mr Mitchell said the latest weather events would increase pressure on an industry already struggling with issues such as workforce shortages.

Luci Simmons and Michael Meudell at their Helensvale home which was left uninhabitable aby the Christmas Day storm. Pics Adam Head

“So there will be an escalation in time for people waiting to get things done,” he said.

It will also impact the local availability of trades, especially in the Far North.

“I think you’ll find they will be stretched and I don’t think there’s going to be any salvation from a truckloads of people coming from interstate,” he said. “If you have trade contractors that get called away to do the disaster repair work, yes, that will cause delays to renos and new builds that are in progress.

“Trades overall, as a whole, are scarce and that’s only going to be escalated further by the events which have occurred.”

Mr Mitchell said if there is high demand, it could also mean costs could blow out even further than the 42 per cent rise experienced over the last three years.

“It just doesn’t seem to stop, it’s the resourcing of materials and manufacturing,” he said.

Mr Mitchell said he hoped the Resilient Homes Fund, which allowed homeowners to apply for funding to repair and raise homes, would return.

Minister Grace Grace speaks to the media regarding storm clean-up at Tamborine Mountain, on Saturday. Picture: Richard Walker

Premier Steven Miles on Sunday admitted it could take “years” for some of the homes in disaster areas to be repaired.

“We do know from our recent experience of the Brisbane floods and the flooding event that we experienced last year as well as the Springfield storms a couple of years back that it will take years to get everybody’s homes repaired,” he said.

“The construction market continues to be challenging in terms of labour and supplies. We have a number of people in emergency accommodation, the housing department will continue to support people who need assistance with temporary accommodation while they get their homes repaired.

“It’s true recovering from this disaster particularly when it comes to those severely damaged and destroyed households, that’s going to take years.

Mr Miles said it was important new builds continued while the repairs had happened due to current pressures on the housing market.

He also said more packages would come.

“We’re looking right now at what else the region needs to help recover,” Mr Miles said.

“And that will all be considered in the context of future packages.”

Mr Miles said there were 1500 households and businesses without power, down from a peak of 130,000.

He said the number halved in the last 24 hours, with hope the remaining 1500 would be restored later today.

“We have processed 59,476 grants of the 95,859 applications that have been received so there’s a massive task in processing all of those grant applications across both disasters here in the South East and in the Far North,” he said.

“We have paid out $15 million but just $5 was just in the last 24 hours.”

From damage assessments made so far in the South East 10 homes had been completely destroyed, 152 severely damaged and 406 had moderate damage.

Federal Emergency Management Minister Murray Watt said the recovery process would take some time.

Meanwhile, Helensvale resident Luci Simmons’ home was deemed “unsafe” to live in after a tree fell through her living room. But since she was told to leave, she had been struggling to find somewhere to live with booking agencies telling her they were “flooded” and it was “crazy” right now.

“I was in absolute tears yesterday until I cried, yelled, screamed, worked it out by the end of the day,” she said.

“To get somewhere immediately, I had to go with the one-week booking.

“Consequently now I’m terrified, and that’s why I’m jumping up and down again today to try and get a booking for next week already for the full extent of my request. Otherwise, I’m going to be doing this every week.”

Builders warned Ms Simmons she would be in emergency accommodation for a minimum of four months.

REIQ chief executive Antonia Mercorella said the already tight rental market on the Gold Coast would likely only get worse, with others in similar situations.

Energex crews continue storm clean-up at Kinabalu Drive, Tamborine Mountain, on Saturday. Picture: Richard Walker

“When we look at the current vacancy rate, which is 1.2 per cent, we know that’s very low and very tight and as a result, rental demand is high,” she said.

“I would expect that we will see more people lining up for those rental properties.

“There is never a good time for a flood or for property damage, but given the current tight rental conditions, this is particularly bad timing.

“And what it will mean is that those displaced people are having to leave those properties and secure new properties and of course, in the current rental market … that will be that would be very challenging.”

St Vincent de Paul diocesan president of the Gold Coast region and surrounds John Blake said concerningly, calls for help were up on similar times in previous years.

“The majority of those in our area have said there’s storm or flooding involved in the reason for their call,” he said.

Mr Blake said it came at a time where finding emergency accommodation was already difficult for the Gold Coast.

“It’s going to be worse because you just can’t manufacture the accommodation for people and the cost of it is absolutely horrendous,” he said.

Mr Blake said he expected more people to request help from next week, with many likely needing assistance for another 12-18 months.

QCOSS chief executive Aimee McVeigh said extreme weather events laid bare the vulnerabilities in the system.

“We know that people, for example, stay in domestic violence shelters for longer than they should,” she said.

“There are lots of people with disabilities and chronic health conditions and those people can be couch-surfing, staying in hotels, living in tents.”

An IAG spokeswoman whose brands include NRMA Insurance, CGU and WFI said they were working closely to find impacted customers accommodation.

“It is always more challenging to source accommodation during holiday periods, however we have the ability to leverage the network of our accommodation partner to help secure properties,” she said.

A Suncorp Insurance spokeswoman said they were working hard to assist customers as quickly as possible, providing them with temporary accommodation.

An RACQ spokeswoman said they had been able to secure accommodation for all their severely impacted members.

CLAIMS TO INSURERS as of Friday afternoon:

IAG has received 4,082 claims across Queensland as a result of the extreme weather events since 23 December 2023.

Suncorp Insurance has received more than 5,000 claims specifically on the Gold Coast from 23 December.

Originally published as Building costs, wait times go through the roof after wild weather