To say the last few years have been a little wild would be an understatement. It doesn’t matter who you are or what you do, you’ve likely felt the wrath of this pandemic in some shape or form.
When it comes to the building industry, there’s a shortage of, well, absolutely everything! Thanks to supply and demand, lockdowns, closed borders, staff shortages and shipping chaos, the cost of building materials has skyrocketed. Not to mention the delay in receiving even the most basic items, with some taking months to arrive.
You may have seen a few memes floating around with individuals sharing their wealth by holding up a few pieces of timber. Sadly, it’s not far from reality. The price of timber and steel has jumped as high as 400% over the last few years.
Why? Yes, Covid 19 had a huge role in this. Ironically however, the Federal government’s home builders grant intended to stimulate the industry, has caused more headaches than celebrations. With a surge in new builds, the material and labour needed overwhelm what is currently available.
In saying that, we are seeing an incredible amount of families that do not qualify for the grant wanting to build as well. Likely due to the current travel restrictions, everyone is reassessing their priorities and funds and putting it towards a home they can enjoy regardless of the environment.
It’s undoubtedly the busiest we have ever been, but also the most frustrating of times, given the uncertainties when it comes to obtaining materials to bring these projects to life. Prices can change overnight. We are already dealing with often our client’s biggest financial investment, and we’ve always prided ourselves in being incredibly upfront with open and prompt communication when it comes to costs. Pricing jobs these past couple of years has been an incredibly time consuming and difficult task. There is so much out of our control as no one can forecast what is to come.
We know there will be many challenges for our industry in 2022, however with every hurdle we have faced throughout this pandemic so far, we have become stronger and wiser. Accordingly, we believe this year to be a busy but positive one. We’ve got an incredible team that has vast professional and valuable life experience, have withstood throughout the changes that have occurred, and believe we will continue to move in the right direction.