Ban a $1bn headache for Vic families

ALMOST $1bn in Victorian home building and renovations will be sidelined over the next two weeks, creating havoc and extra costs for thousands of families.

Many people hoping to collect the keys to their new home will now have to find alternative accommodation because of the down-tools order.

And suburban builders, tradies and subcontractors face a fortnight of no wages because of the impact of the industry-wide shutdown.

Housing Industry Association state executive director Fiona Nield said the industry normally completed $976m in building work every fortnight, covering about 1750 houses, townhouses and units, as well as renovation work.

“This is going to be really difficult for the families waiting to go into their new home and now potentially needing to find alternative accommodation,” she said.

Families are hoping for some compensation to cover unexpected costs, while it’s believed the building industry is asking the state government for some support for local tradies being penalised by the actions of a radical few.

Federal Housing Minister Michael Sukkar blasted the Andrews government for shutting down the industry, saying a “chaotic decision-making process” had unfairly put 320,000 law-abiding people out of work.

“Punishing all of those people because of the actions of a violent minority is not the answer,” Mr Sukkar said.

Metricon director Peter Langfelder estimated the company had about 370 homes where it had planned to hand over the keys in the next two weeks, including 270 in Melbourne.

He estimated the impact to homebuyers across affected parts of the state would be more than 3000 builds.