Enter your email and password to access secured content, members only resources and discount prices.
Did you become a member online? If not, you will need to activate your account to login.
If you are having problems logging in, please call HIA helpdesk on 1300 650 620 during business hours.
If you are having problems logging in, please call HIA helpdesk on 1300 650 620 during business hours.
Enables quick and easy registration for future events or learning and grants access to expert advice and valuable resources.
Enter your details below and create a login
“Development application fees are based on the estimated development cost (EDC), so there is an incentive for councils to inflate the estimated cost of building a new home. The higher the EDC the higher the DA fee collected by council.
“Goulburn Mulwaree Council is regularly imposing an estimated cost that is hundreds of thousands of dollars above signed building contract price. This increased EDC is based on irrelevant and inappropriate claims such as allowances for promotional discounts and unrealistic driveway and landscaping costs.
“If this was any commercial business they would be forced to stop overcharging consumers and required to issue refunds. The same should apply to councils,” added Mr Armitage.
“The Council has the sole authority to determine the EDC, and you have no real choice but to accept their decision. It means councils are raking in thousands of dollars more in fees and other charges they are not entitled to.
“Issues like this are not only adding to the cost of housing but also causing projects to be delayed by weeks as outlined in HIA's Getting Keys in Doors report.
“We have councils across the state using first home buyers and families building a home as an ATM. Council’s shouldn’t need to be told that is simply not fair, they should be better than this,” concluded Mr Armitage.
Tasmanian Liberals re-elected in 2025 with new housing and construction policies. Tasmanians could benefit from $30,000 First Home Owner Grants, extended Payroll Tax Rebates for apprenticeships and reforms to speed up housing land supply and improve building regulations in Tasmania.
Over the past few days there has been a number of important housing announcements from the Federal government that HIA has been advocating for over several years.
“An average person leaving school today will have up to 15 different jobs in their lifetime. High school students, as they finish their senior school education, have an unlimited number of career options at their feet,” said HIA Managing Director, Jocelyn Martin, as part of the launch at National Skills Week.
Lenders Mortgage Insurance (LMI) isn’t the worst housing policy, but this week’s announcement by the Minister for Housing, Claire O’Neil MP, will lower rental prices, increase the supply of homes, without increasing demand, leading to lower home price growth, sometime after the next Federal Election.