Industrial Safety News: April - May 2022

Page 72

APRIL- MAY 2022

Soaring inflation to stunt housing construction Building consent numbers will likely peak in the first half of 2022 – if left unchecked, the issues of housing supply and housing unaffordability could worsen significantly this year, Brad Olsen from Infometrics warns

A

nnual inflation in the year to the December 2021 quarter was 5.9%, well outside the Reserve Bank of New Zealand’s target of keeping inflation between 1 and 3% on average over the medium term. Statistics New Zealand advises the main driver for this high annual inflation rate was the housing and household utilities group, with prices for construction and rentals for housing increasing. 72 propertyandbuild.com

Prices for construction of new dwellings increased 16 percent in the December 2021 quarter compared with the December 2020 quarter. The Infrastructure Commission’s latest Infrastructure Quarterly report shows that construction costs jumped by more than 10% in 2021, and similar increases are forecast for 2022. The increase represents the most rapid growth in prices since the Global Financial Crisis. The Infrastructure

Commission’s report is available here. While the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has projected inflation would fall back to within the Reserve Bank’s target band by 2023 in its 2022 Economic Survey of New Zealand, that will come at the cost of higher interest rates. The high inflation and rising interest rates mean that already high construction costs will

rise even further, forcing developers to put some projects on hold as commercial feasibility evaporates. This combined with factors including skills shortages, supply-chain bottlenecks, Covid-19related shutdowns and reduced ability to secure a residential mortgage create a perfect storm for a slump in the supply of new residential dwellings and general construction activity.


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook

Articles inside

Comparing markets with Australia – what can we learn?

2min
page 88

Design centre future where timber construction leads the way

6min
pages 89-92

What have two years of Covid taught us about property?

5min
pages 86-87

Soaring inflation to stunt housing construction

2min
page 73

Commercial Property bounces back from restrictions

25min
pages 78-85

Comparing markets with Australia – what can we learn?

1min
page 72

A pioneering new recovery facility sets the global standard

2min
pages 62-63

An interview with Carsten Steentjes, Head of Special Sales at PlanET Biogas

3min
pages 64-65

Construction as we know it is changing

4min
pages 67-69

Hard work gets results

1min
pages 60-61

Costs of delivering infrastructure continue to rise

1min
page 66

After the revolution -- faster, cheaper stronger roads

21min
pages 54-59

Chemical safety relies on meaningful cooperation

3min
pages 52-53

Automation on the rise as labour shortage bites

2min
page 51

Treescape weathers the storm

2min
pages 44-45

Road user charges could top-up dwindling transport funding

1min
page 37

Plans to decarbonise the skies could be closer than you think

1min
pages 46-47

How to cure tunnel vision

11min
pages 40-43

The 2022 Carbon and Energy Professionals Conference is open to all

2min
pages 48-49

Drowning our sorrows and burying our sins

2min
page 50

Time and planning essential for tunnel projects

3min
pages 38-39

Port of Tauranga project highlights need for fasttracked consents

1min
page 36

Multi-purpose, safer, faster telehandlers increase productivity

3min
pages 34-35

Set up a safe and healthy work at home

6min
pages 28-32

This is not the time to put mental wellbeing on the backburner

2min
pages 25-27

The great unlearning

6min
pages 16-17

What good is safety without health?

2min
pages 8-9

Skills shortages require pragmatic response

8min
pages 4-7

Wireless EV charging a gamechanger

2min
page 33

Nearly half the world does not get enough sleep

10min
pages 10-15

No better investment than chemical safety training

2min
pages 2-3
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.