Western Australia’s housing construction push is gaining ground, but the state is not building fast enough to meet its supply targets, according to reporting by The West Australian.
More than 100,000 new homes have been built or approved across WA, a figure the state government has pointed to as evidence of progress. But the pace of construction still lags the targets set to address a housing shortage that has driven rents and purchase prices sharply higher in recent years.
WA’s housing crunch has been building since the pandemic, when population growth accelerated and material and labour costs blew out across the sector. Builders took on more work than the trades workforce could absorb, leading to lengthy delays, contractor collapses, and a backlog of approvals that took years to clear. The state now faces the challenge of lifting output while the industry is still recovering from that period.
For tradies in the building and construction sector, a sustained gap between target and delivery means ongoing work. Framing crews, concreters, plumbers, and sparkies in WA have had relatively full order books, and that is unlikely to change quickly if the approval pipeline stays ahead of what the workforce can complete.
The harder question is whether wages and capacity can keep up. Skills shortages in the trades have been a persistent handbrake on output in WA, and any serious acceleration in home completions will require either more apprentices coming through or continued interstate and international migration of qualified workers.
Watch for further state budget commitments on housing and any federal-state agreements that tie funding to completion milestones rather than approvals alone. Approvals are easy to count; finished homes are what families need.
Frequently asked questions
How many homes have been built or approved in WA?
More than 100,000 homes have been built or approved across Western Australia, according to The West Australian.
Why is WA falling behind its housing target?
A combination of skills shortages in the trades, pandemic-era backlogs, contractor collapses, and labour constraints has slowed the pace of completions below the level needed to meet the state’s housing supply target.
What does WA’s housing shortfall mean for tradies?
Tradespeople in the building and construction sector, including framers, concreters, plumbers, and electricians, are likely to continue seeing strong demand for their work while the gap between approvals and completions remains.
What would be needed to speed up home building in WA?
Analysts point to two main levers: increasing the number of apprentices completing their training, and attracting more qualified workers from interstate and overseas to fill persistent skills gaps.
Sourced from The West Australian. Original article.
