Master Builders welcomes the Minns Government’s announcement of new housing innovation grants to boost construction of housing using modular, prefab and other Modern Methods of Construction (MMC).
Matthew Pollock, Executive Director of Master Builders NSW said the new Housing Innovation in Construction Fund and the Housing Innovation Network Grants Program are the latest step in the NSW Government’s nation leading plan to harness the potential of MMC to get more housing out of the ground,
“The Minister for Housing and the Minister for Building deserve credit for the announcement,
“Modular and other prefab construction has periodically been the flavour of the month for more than a decade without gaining much traction in the building industry. This grant program of nearly $4 million can help turbo-charge the use of MMC constructed housing and bring it into the mainstream alongside measures such as the government’s Budget announcement of $32.3 million to integrate prefab into the planning and building approvals system.
“It’s a good move targeting grants to support SMEs and larger businesses to get their prefab design and construction solutions compliant with building regulations but a strong pipeline of work will be essential to achieving the government’s aim of standing up a local large scale prefab manufacturing facility,
“Private sector investment in compliant prefab housing design, manufacture and construction should be encouraged with fast tracked planning building approvals,
“This means that the government must stay laser-focused on cutting red tape in the planning system, particularly at local council level.
“Boosting the construction industry’s capacity and upskilling its practitioners and workforce to deliver a MMC pipeline will be another key to success,” Matthew Pollock said.