Swamped home builders relieved as extension arrives

Mackay and Whitsunday builders are set to benefit from a three-month extension for the grant as many struggled to deal with the workload

Builders in Mackay were struggling to complete homes as the deadline for the grant neared. Picture: File

A THREE-MONTH extension to the HomeBuilder grant is expected to remove pressure on Mackay's building industry.

Mackay and Whitsundays Master Builders regional manager Malcolm Hull lobbied long and hard to extend the grant, which now continue from January 1 to March 31, 2021.

"It's going to take a fair bit of pressure off the actual builders at the moment because the three-month timeline they had between the contract signing and start date was just a little bit fine," he said.

"By the time they got engineering and plans drawn up and … the homeowners got finance, and everything else sorted out, three months (to finalise the process) was just becoming impossible.

"So getting it extended to six months has taken the weight off, relieved things a considerable amount."

The extension from the December 31 deadline is also expected to provide an opportunity for more prospective home buyers to sign up and get their dream home built.

"So now they got six months lead time before they have to start - so from contract signing to start, they now have six months, which is a little bit easier," Mr Hull said.

"From January 1 to March 31 … it drops down from $25,000 to $15,000."

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Mr Hull said the extension would allow a lot of builders across the region to complete home construction sooner.

He said he expected the building industry would be busy for the full 2021 year.

One of Mr Hull's main concerns was Mackay's wet season, which he said could result in a loss of two months' work for the builders.

"All the facts and figures and experts in that field are telling us we're in for a large wet season," Mr Hull said.

"The builders are trying to get foundations in, slabs done prior to Christmas.

"We are very much aware that the building industry is absolutely going flat out on the footings, concrete and slab stage of the houses and get as many of them into the ground as they can, which will alleviate the problem a fair bit.

"Once they get the ground work done, it makes the building of the house easier."

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