The building sector is being dogged by a “perfect storm” of building material delays, labour shortages and now another lockdown. BDO's lead advisory partner on construction, James MacQueen, said business had boomed in the sector since last year’s lockdown, but “a perfect storm” of inflation, delayed building materials and labour shortages meant it was also facing greater risks. This was creating uncertainty for building firms over whether they could fulfil their pipeline of work. Longer term, there was a looming wave of experienced construction staff looking to retire over the next decade, it said. Soaring building costs were also reflected recently by CoreLogic’s Cordell Housing Index Price, which showed that residential construction costs were now running at 4.5 per cent annually, rising 2.2 per cent in the June quarter alone.

Source: Stuff August 26, 2021 22:31 UTC