Construction costs stabilising, but a rocky road lies ahead

Australia’s largest brickmaker says the extra expense of making homes more sustainable and a ban on engineered stone have sent shock waves through construction at a time when the growth in costs was easing. Lengthy times for planning approvals and a lack of skilled labour are also weighing on the building industry, which is under intense pressure to increase much-needed supply. Construction costs are weighing on the housing sector. Credit: Scott McNaughton Lindsay Partridge, managing director of ASX-listed Brickworks, said building material costs were coming back to “reasonable” levels, but new state rules requiring new and…