Building permits hit $1 billion mark in Wyndham

Wyndham’s building boom has hit new heights with $1.4 billion in permits issued last year – the second-highest amount of any Victorian municipality after the City of Melbourne.

Data from the Victorian Building Authority (VBA) shows that building permit activity in Wyndham in 2014 surged 44 per cent to
$1.4 billion. In 2013, the permits were valued at $955 million.

One of the state’s largest single-building permits was a $120 million permit for retail building works at the Pacific Werribee centre in Hoppers Crossing.

VBA chief executive Prue Digby said that across Victoria, the value of reported building permits in 2014 was a record $26.9 billion,
11 per cent higher than the previous record four years ago.

Wyndham council chief executive Kerry Thompson said there were 4186 building approvals in Wyndham in 2014 – up from 3364 in 2013.

“This figure included 2720 building permits for single dwellings or 65 per cent of all permits,” Ms Thompson said.

“The next most common type of permit was for garages, sheds, carports, verandahs, pools and other minor structures – 1115 building permits for these structures.

“The council issued 233 building permits for commercial and industrial building works and 78 for multiple dwellings. Fifty of these were two- or three-dwellings permits and six were for developments containing more than 10 dwellings.”

In the 2013-14 financial year, permits for 2472 houses were approved in Wyndham – up 449 on 2012-13 but still less than half the record high of 5285 in 2009-10. Housing Industry Association executive director Gil King said prospects for further growth across the sector were positive.

“Dwelling commencements in Victoria are forecast to rise for a second year in 2014-15 and while the forecast is for a decline over subsequent years, the overall level of activity is on track to remain historically healthy,” Mr King said.

“New-home building made a massive contribution to economic growth in the state last year, with particularly strong increases in new multi-unit dwelling construction.”