Housing affordability across Australia experienced improvement during the first three months of 2016, according to the latest affordability report. Affordability improved by 2.7% quarter on quarter and was 0.4% more favourable than the same period a year earlier, the data from the report by the Housing Industry Association shows. Aggregate capital city housing affordability was 4.1% more favourable during the quarter, while regional markets experienced 0.1% improvement.  ‘The national median dwelling price fell during the March 2016 quarter and this was the main factor behind the improvement in affordability during the first quarter of the year,’ said HIA senior economist, Shane Garrett.  ‘Had it not been for the shock increase in variable mortgage interest rates late last year, the improvement in affordability would have been even better. Earnings growth has been held back by slack in the economy, and this situation has also worked against improving affordability,’ he explained. ‘At the end of the day, the most durable way of improving affordability lies in facilitating the supply of affordable new housing more effectively. Planning delays, land supply shortages and the heavy tax burden are all making the achievement of housing affordability much more difficult,’ he added. A breakdown of the figures show that the largest improvements in affordability were in Sydney with a rise of 8.9%, Perth up 4.9% and Darwin up 4.4%. Affordability also saw improvement in Hobart with a rise of 2.9% and Melbourne where it was up 2%. However, affordability worsened in Brisbane with a fall of 1.2%, was down 0.2% in Adelaide and down 0.3% in Canberra. Meanwhile, the latest data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics show that the number of dwellings approved rose 0.6% in March 2016, in trend terms, and has now risen for four months in a row. Approvals increased in the Australian Capital Territory by 18.9%, in Western Australia by 1.1%, in Queensland by 0.8% and in Victoria by 0.2% in trend terms. Dwelling approvals decreased in the Northern Territory by 18.1%, in Tasmania by 1.5%, in New South Wales by 0.3% and in South Australia by 0.1% in trend terms. In trend terms, approvals for private sector houses rose 0.3% in March. Private sector house approvals rose in Victoria by 1.7% but fell in South Australia by 0.8%, in Western Australia by 0.7% and in Queensland by 0.2% Private sector house approvals were flat in New South Wales. In seasonally adjusted terms, dwelling approvals increased 3.7% with private sector house approvals up 2.6% while private sector dwellings, excluding houses, rose 6.7%. The value of total building approved fell 0.9 per cent in March, in trend terms, and has fallen for eight months. The value of residential building rose 0.4% while non-residential building fell 3.9%. Final ABS results for 2015 confirm that last year was the strongest ever for new home building activity with over 220,000 new homes beginning construction, an 11% rise on 2014 with which the previous record for new home activity. ‘It is impossible to overstate the importance of new home building in supporting economic activity over the past few years. The mining slump left a big hole in economic growth, which residential building has partly alleviated, providing much needed employment in construction. Australia’s housing stock has been augmented significantly by the high levels of new home building. This will benefit our economic capacity and living standards for decades to come,’ said HIA’s Garrett.    But he warned that new home building is likely to have peaked last year and he predicts that there will be fewer new homes started in 2016. ‘Under current policy settings, new home building is then projected to fall below the levels required to provide for Australia’s long term housing needs,’ he pointed out. ‘We must avoid this outcome by immediately tackling the heavy taxation burden on new home building, speeding up the planning process and doing more to deliver shovel-ready residential land. In the absence of serious housing policy reform, there is a real risk that we will fall behind in the race for better living standards,’ he added. A breakdown of the figures shows that in 2015 the largest increase in new home starts was in New South Wales with growth of 19.1%, by 18.8% in Tasmania, by 18.7% in Queensland, by 17.3% in Victoria and by 6% in ACT. But they fell by 22.4% in the Northern Territory, by 12% in Western Australia and by 9.4% in South Australia during 2015.   BOOKMARK THIS PAGE (What is this?)      Source link

Transport minister John Hayes has also confirmed he will give a keynote address at this year’s CN Summit in October. Mr Hayes’ minsterial responsibilities include Highways England; the built environment and transport skills and innovation. The Summit features the best speaker lineup of any construction conference and the launch of the 2016 government-backed Construction KPIs. This year’s Summit has more than 40 clients, and more than 60 speakers confirmed, with Mr Hayes the latest to join the lineup for October’s two-day event. Great Portland Estates chief executive Toby Courtauld, RAC chairman Rob Templeman and Mace CEO Mark Reynolds are also among the latest confirmed CN Summit speakers. The Crown Estate’s head of development, Matt Giles will speak on a panel on the future of office development, with Mr Courtauld; Simon Hesketh, director of regeneration at U+I; and Derwent director Paul Williams. London deputy mayor for transport Val Shawcross and HUB development director Steve Sanham have also joined the prestigious programme. Ms Shawcross was appointed as deputy mayor for transport under Sadiq Khan in May. She has been a London Assembly member for 16 years and has served as chair or deputy chair of the London Assembly transport committee for eight of those. Mr Sanham will be joining CN’s PRS panel alongside: Mark Allnutt, managing director, investments, Greystar Europe; Jon Clark, director- client relations and business development, Touchstone; Alex Greaves, head of residential investment, M&G Real Estate. The CN Summit takes place over 11 & 12 October and now has more than 60 of the industry’s client, contractor and supply chain leaders confirmed to speak. Transport for London programme director for construction Miles Ashley and Network Rail managing director for property David Biggs will also speak.  Mark Reynolds CN Summit  The main contractor panel will feature Bam Nuttall’s Steve Fox, ISG’s Paul Cossell, Mace’s Mark Reynolds and Ferrovial’s UK & Ireland MD Mario Mostoles. Keynotes on day one will include Gala Coral Group and RAC chairman Rob Templeman speaking about how construction can draw lessons from other industries. Mr Templeman has been the chief executive of some of the UK’s largest firms including Debenhams, Homebase and Halfords. The Times columnist and founder of ConservativeHome, Tim Montgomerie, will address what Brexit will mean for UK politics, the economy and construction. Irvine Sellar Source: Alastair Levy The man behind the Shard, Irvine Sellar, founder and chairman of Sellar Property Group, will also deliver a keynote speech. The CN Summit will be the venue for the launch of the 2016 Construction KPIs report, produced by Glenigan and BRE, at a drinks reception on the evening of day one. The subcontractor panel will feature Keller UK MD Jim De Waele, Keltbray CEO Brendan Kerr and FK Group MD Francis Keenan. Speed dating with clients On the second day, VIP delegates will have the chance to network over breakfast with client leaders including Cliff Jones, head of the construction procurement team at the Department of Health; Phil Sullivan, construction director at Argent; and Deborah McLaughlin, executive director North-west at the Homes and Communities Agency. On day two, Sadie Morgan, co-founding director of dRMM and commissioner on the National Infrastructure Commission, will speak about the vision for national infrastructure in the UK. Former government chief construction adviser Paul Morrell will chair a session on disruptive innovation. The panel will feature Tideway CEO Andy Mitchell, Laing O’Rourke managing director for engineering enterprise Paul Sheffield, and CPA deputy chief executive and policy director Peter Caplehorn. The event’s new Skills Hackathon, in partnership with Build UK, will work collaboratively on day one to generate real-life solutions to the skills challenges that hold businesses back, which will be presented to the whole audience on day two with a commitment to take them forward. A 24-hour tech sprint will also take place, to be judged by a panel including HS2 head of innovation Iain Roche (see judges, below). Plenary sessions will once again be chaired by BBC journalist and Daily Politics host Andrew Neil.  Build UK chief executive Suzannah Nichol will also present lessons from the Skills Hack on day one and how delegates should apply them to their businesses Show Fullscreen CN Summit 2016 floorplan Speakers also include: Mark Allnutt, managing director, investments, Greystar Europe Miles Ashley, programme director, construction, Transport for London Ian Ballentine, executive procurement director, Heathrow David Biggs, managing director, property, Network Rail Justin Black, development director, Land Securities Simon Blanchflower, major programme director – Thameslink, Network Rail David Brown, chief executive, Transport for the North Jon Clark, director- client relations and business development, Touchstone David Climie, project director – Forth Replacement Crossing, Transport Scotland Karen Cook, founding partner, PLP Architecture Carl Devlin, programme director, Horizon Nuclear Power Michèle Dix, managing director, Crossrail 2 Kevin Dunning, director of network services, London Underground, Transport for London Ged Fitzgerald, chief executive, Liverpool City Council Alex Greaves, head of residential investment, M&G Real Estate Mike Grice, construction director, Battersea Power Station Development Company Annie Hampson, chief planning officer, City of London Clare Hatcher, partner, Clyde & Co Peter Henry, development director, Harworth Simon Hesketh, director of regeneration, U+I Anisa Hussein, associate director – project management, JLL Arran Linton-Smith, senior consultant, Interserve Simon Marshall, director, Scarborough Group Ray Melee, development director, Gatwick Andy Mitchell, chief executive officer, Tideway Suzannah Nichol, chief executive, Build UK Jim O’Sullivan, chief executive, Highways England Jeroen Pat, innovator, TBI Basil Scarsella, chief executive officer, UK Power Networks Alan Shepherd, divisional director, Highways England Laura Shoaf, managing director, Transport for West Midlands Chris Taylor, director for complex infrastructure, Highways England Gavin Taylor, operations director, BCEGI Joanne Wilkins, product development director, Carillion Paul Williams, director, Derwent Trevor Williams, professor, University of Derby and former chief economist at Lloyds Bank Chris Williamson, director, Weston Williamson Tech Sprint Judges Kuldeep Gharatya, head of technical strategy, systems performance and innovation, London Underground Rick Robinson, IT director for smart data and technology, Amey Iain Roche, head of innovation, HS2 Malcolm Taylor, head of technical information, Crossrail Source link