Western Australia’s civil construction industry peak body says an expected boost to subdivision construction activity from the extended Federal Government Home Builder incentive is easing fears of a ‘hard landing’ for Western Australian land development contractors and suppliers in early 2021.

Civil Contractors Federation WA CEO Andy Graham said the HomeBuilder extension – providing a reduced $15,000 grant for contracts signed between 1 January and 31 March 2021 – would give land developers the confidence to commission more stages to meet demand.

“We’re already hearing that developers are looking to take advantage of the extended incentive – which when combined with the State Government First Home Owners Grant and stamp duty concessions, can mean a saving of close to $40,000 for first home buyers,” Mr Graham said.

“With both the State and Federal home building incentives previously requiring a contract signed by December 31 this year, there were concerns that the current high activity in subdivision construction would be followed by an abrupt downturn early next year.

“For the subdivision sector, which has been extraordinarily busy for the last six months, the Federal Government’s extended incentive will help ease the transition to more normal workflows.”