Builder says WA government's modular push neglects key ingredient for new housing
A country builder says the Cook government's decision to use so-called modular housing to address Western Australia's shortage of affordable housing fails to account for the lack of developed land.
The government announced the low-deposit loans for modular housing, to be offered through state-owned lender Keystart, as part of a suite of housing measures ahead of tomorrow's state budget.
But country business and community leaders say the homes will not be much use without land to put them on.
The Shire of Waroona — a regional migration hotspot just south of metropolitan Perth — is a case in point.
"We have had developers who've looked at developing land and they've been knocked back given there's no more capacity in our system," said shire president Mike Walmsley.
Headworks refer to the initial water and power infrastructure required for residential lots and is carried out by the state-owned Water Corporation and Western Power.
Housing and Works Minister John Carey said the government had launched "unprecedented" measures to unlock land for regional housing.
"Claims to the contrary are simply false," he said.
He said $40 million from the government's infrastructure development fund had been put towards reducing obstacles to land development, including costs associated with utility connections.
"Recently, we announced the new $400 million Housing Enabling Infrastructure Fund to unlock land in both regional and metropolitan areas," Mr Carey said.
"This fund will help deliver critical water and power infrastructure to support a pipeline of residential land supply across the state."
Mr Carey pointed to the sale of more than 1,000 lots across 90 towns since 2020 under the Regional Land Booster program as evidence of the government's success.
Mr Walmsley said Water Corporation had blocked potential housing developments due to pressure on the local wastewater facility, which had operated at capacity since 2016.
The state government pushed back upgrades until 2028, according to the shire.
Mr Walmsley said the government's responsibility to provide power and water to meet growing housing demand had seemingly been neglected.
Local governments in the broader Peel region have been pushing for expansion of local sewage capacity to support new subdivisions and population growth.
Regional builder Sam Karamfiles is based in Manjimup, 300 kilometres south of Perth, where land availability has also put the handbrake on housing supply.
"There's definitely an undersupply of affordable land in regional areas," Mr Karamfiles said.
"Even with major developments in Perth, they're all hinged on government decisions and red tape."
In the farming community of Pingrup, 360km south-east of Perth, Carol Walsh began assembling a modular home to house staff on her farm in 2024.
She claimed she applied to Western Power to connect power to the modular home more than two years ago.
"If it had been a family home, it would've been an absolute nightmare," she said.
Off-site construction has a lot of natural advantages in regional and remote areas with the tyranny of distance and acute shortage of skills making on-site builds more challenging.
The government's pivot to off-site construction has been lauded by Master Builders WA chief executive Matthew Pollock.
"This is very welcome as something that will particularly help in the regions and remote areas where traditional supply chains are stretched, which makes it difficult to build traditional housing on site," Mr Pollock said.
Mr Karamfiles was not too concerned about losing business to off-site builders.
He said existing regional builders were already stretched to the limit.
Western Power and Water Corporation have been contacted for comment.
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