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A leading Queensland architect has warned that the state’s housing supply crisis is being driven by commercial risk and a redirection of construction resources to government projects, not planning delays, as some have claimed.
Nick Symonds, director of MAS Architecture Studio, said major apartment developments across south-east Queensland are being shelved or redesigned, as tier-one builders walk away from large-scale residential projects amid heightened risk and the lure of public sector contracts.
“These aren’t townhouses or boutique builds. We’re talking about substantial residential projects with hundreds of apartments, and developers can’t find a builder willing or able to take them on under current conditions,” Symonds said.
“Tier-one contractors have stepped away from major residential developments, not because they lack interest, but because these projects take too long, carry too much risk, and no longer stack up commercially compared to government work.”
His comments come as Queensland faces a housing shortfall of 100,000 homes by 2029.
Meanwhile, demand from Olympic infrastructure projects continues to soak up much of the state’s available construction workforce, leaving the private sector struggling to attract builders.
While planning bottlenecks have been blamed for sluggish housing starts in recent years, Symonds argued that risk exposure is the key deterrent in today’s market.
“We can’t build our way out of the housing crisis if there’s no one left to do the building,” Symonds said. “Fast-track approvals mean nothing if projects can’t get out of the ground.”
In response, developers are increasingly scaling down their projects to attract smaller, more flexible builders. But the shift towards mid-rise construction is unlikely to deliver the volume of new dwellings required to meet population growth and affordability targets.
Although some groups have sought to internalise construction by becoming developer-builders, many lack the capital reserves or capability to deliver projects at scale.
The Queensland government has pledged to accelerate housing approvals, but industry leaders warn that unless more builders re-enter the high-density residential market, the state risks falling further behind its housing goals.
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