Harry Triguboff: We’re in a major housing crisis. So why do I find myself talking to brick walls, rather than building them?

For the past two years, the most asked question of Harry Triguboff, founder and managing director of the largest property development company in Australia, Meriton, is, “How do we fix the housing crisis?”

“The answer is simple but the execution appears not to be,” Mr Triguboff says.

“Approve more housing.

“I have said for decades, if we did not consistently build into the future, there would be a national housing crisis the scale of which we have never seen before.

“Even now, with the housing deficit so great nobody seems to appreciate the severity.

The biggest builder in the country and the father of urbanisation says that every government body has their own red tape, slightly different length and colour, but a trip hazard nonetheless.

“I like Chris Minns, but putting all his energy into finding one major site here in NSW he can develop, will simply serve as a bandaid. The system is broken. He’ll need something a lot stronger than a bandaid to fix it.

“I could have built twice as much as I have over the years, but back at the start of the millennium all anyone could talk about was oversupply.

“Look at us now,” he says.

Mr Triguboff says you only have to look at the results of the National Housing Accord introduced in July last year. It is a collaborative agreement between federal, state, territory and local governments to build 1.2 million new homes over five years.

“The Accord has failed to hit a single target,” Mr Triguboff says.  We will be 55,000 homes short in the first year.

“They pulled that 1.2 million housing figure out of the air because they certainly did not look at all the contributing factors as to why they would never make that target.

“Builders need approvals, pre-sales, money from the bank and skilled labour, none of which has been, or still is, readily available.

“Approvals, if anything, are more difficult, construction costs have gone up nearly 50 per cent since 2019, and our “collaborative” governments are spending time sending our good builders and sub-contractors broke rather than helping them.

“I lend money rather than borrow it and I have sub-contractors who are third generation who have been working for me for over 60 years so labour is not a problem for me.  But approvals are still a massive problem, particularly here in NSW.

“But the worst of it is on completion – if you get that far.

“Defects gouging.  Ambulance chasing strata lawyers, with their ridiculous unsubstantiated claims, wanting their five minutes of fame.  Their only contribution is to kill the industry further.

“There is no profit, no builder’s security at the completion of the project and holding costs while you wait for approvals is unsustainable.  Why would anyone choose to do it,” he says.

So, what is the solution?

“All levels of government have to do better,” Mr Triguboff says.

“Mr Minns is making an effort to address the housing crisis but how many resources, and how much work, has gone into theses abandoned plans like Rosehill Racecourse.

“If you want to make an immediate difference, all levels of government across Australia need to work together to address the red tape that is tying up every other site in the country.

“Deal with the approvals in front of you, compromise and don’t sabotage housing because it is further than 10 minutes from a Metro. There are other very viable solutions to move people around.

“Especially here in NSW, if it is going to be a win for Minns, he has to tick more bricks.

“It is as simple as that,” he says.