Builders lament finance squeeze

CONSTRUCTION industry representatives say growing the local economy is the first step to getting more buildings in Cairns.

Urban Development Institute of Australia Cairns branch president Adam Gowlett said the building and construction industry was the sixth-largest employer in Cairns.

“The main difficulty with the building industry at the moment is access to finance,” he said.

“With the royal commission on banking, access to loans has tightened. There’s a lot of uncertainty from investors.”

Mr Gowlett said a rise in full-time employment would lead to an increase in housing projects, but that would be difficult with Cairns’ transient population.

“Cairns relies on a lot of part-time industries like tourism and hospitality,” he said.

“It’s hard to get a home loan with a lot of those types of jobs.”

“However, as tourism and the retail sector improves, that will help build up the local economy.”

Master Builders Queensland president Ralf Dutton said the end of the First Home Owners Grant in July was like turning off a tap for construction jobs.

“Regional places like Cairns are suffering the most because banks don’t want to lend to them,” he said.

“Even when demand is high, if people can’t get the funding for new houses, that leads to a drop off in building projects.”

Mr Gowlett said the UDIA hoped some of the larger Cairns construction projects would help keep the local industry afloat.

“Large projects like CPAC, Crystalbrook and the eventual convention centre expansion give tradies and contractors long certainty of work projects to keep them on while waiting for the housing market to build up,” he said.