Levy will boost costs: builders
A State Government plan to increase WA’s building services levy has been criticised by industry, which warns it will increase the cost of home building and renovating.
The Government today announced a swath of reforms it said would reduce red tape in the building and plumbing industries.
To pay for the reforms the building services levy will increase from 0.09 per cent of the value of the work to 0.137 per cent. For a $200,000 house that would translate to an increase of $95 from $180 to $275.
The levy, which is paid by builders, funds the State’s Building Commission, which oversees the regulation of building, painting, building surveying and plumbing services in WA.
Commerce Minister Michael Mischin said the levy hike was necessary to better support the building and plumbing industries.
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The planned reforms include free online access to the national construction code and online lodgement and processing of building approval applications, plumbing notices.
He said home owners would benefit from more transparency and faster access to information during the building process.
“There are 138 local government and three State Government permit authorities, all of which have different building approval processes,” he said.
“Plumbers submit over 135,000 paper notices of intent and work certificates each year. In addition, the Building Commission deals with 10,200 registration and licensing applications a year.
“Online lodgement and processing will be available 24 hours a day and will improve speed and efficiency of processing applications, reducing red tape and increasing productivity.”
But the Housing Industry Association, the peak body for the building industry, said the levy increase was little more than a “cash grab” that would hit new home buyers.
“This increase is well above CPI, doesn’t reflect he cost of the delivering the services and will only negatively impact housing affordability for West Australians,” HIA executive director John Gelavis said.
“The levy is placed on the value of residential building work, which is forecast to be $6.79 billion in 2015. With the levy increasing from 0.09 per cent to 0.137 per cent, there will be an increase in the take by government of around $3.19 million.
“While the government will argue that in dollar terms, this is a minor increase, when piled on top of the never ending list of taxes and charges on new homes, it is another blow to housing affordability in the State.
“As is often the case with housing, it will be another ‘tax on a tax’, with stamp duty and GST on top.”
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